Debbie Quinn has a lifelong love of food and cooking, nurtured in her parents’ restaurants and in her own family’s kitchen. Every fortnight she shares her passion and expertise with our readers, bringing her best recipes, tips and tricks to the table.
Aunty Pat Everett lives in Corowa and came to stay with us for a few days last week. We made these little quiches together and they are delicious. Aunty Pat brings them to all our family gatherings. They make great finger food, and they last about two minutes.
Ingredients
1kg packet Pampas shortcrust pastry
Olive oil spray
5 eggs
300ml cream
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Pat’s favourite fillings
Chicken and avocado
Mediterranean: salami, olive and tomato
Bacon and zucchini
Sweet potato and feta cheese
Filling ingredients
150g sweet potato (boil or steam until tender, cut into small pieces)
1 ½ chicken thigh fillets (poach the chicken in 2 cups chicken stock on a low simmer for 10 minutes)
½ avocado sliced into large dice (drizzle with a little lemon juice so they don’t discolour)
½ zucchini (grated)
2 bacon rashes (diced finely)
50g Greek feta cheese (sliced into thin strips)
12 pitted calamata olives (cut in half)
8 slices salami (diced)
10 cherry tomatoes (sliced)
1 cup tasty cheese shredded (Pat likes to use Black and Gold; she says you don’t need to spend money on expensive cheese for this recipe)
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Take the pastry out of the fridge a couple of hours prior to making the quiches. When you are ready to make the quiches, separate the sheets one at a time.
The best way to approach this recipe is to prepare all the filling ingredients first.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan-forced).
Then, whisk the eggs and cream in a medium bowl, add ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper, and set aside.
Spray the mini quiche trays with the olive oil and wipe out any excess oil.
Cut the pastry into rounds that fit your trays and push them into the base and sides of the trays. Then, with all the fillings prepared, put around a teaspoon of filling in each quiche patty.
Making 12 of each flavoured mini quiche
• Start with chicken and avocado. Put the chicken in the base of the quiche, then add the avocado, squashing the avocado a little with the chicken.
• For the Mediterranean quiches, mix some of the salami, olive and tomato and place in the bottom of the pastry.
• For the next quiches, in the base of the pastry, add the sweet potato and top with a slice of the feta cheese.
• Then, finally, put the bacon and zucchini on the base of the remaining quiche pastries.
Now you are ready to fill the quiches with the egg mixture and top with the shredded cheese. Use a little jug to pour the egg mixture into the quiches just to cover the filling and top with the shredded cheese (about a teaspoon on each).
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the cheese is golden on top.
Deb’s tips
Pat uses a small patty pan tray for her quiches because the delight of these treats is that they are small, just a couple of bites each and perfect for party food. Last week, we found 12-cup nonstick Pyrex platinum patty pan trays at Harris Scarfe. The measurements are 28.6cm x 21.9cm. They are a perfect party food size, and the filling fits well in the little round cup.
Use a round cutter that will fit the size of the patty pans, and be careful not to put too much filling in the base of the quiche, or you won’t have enough room for your egg mixture.
You can really use whatever you have in your pantry or fridge for the fillings. If you have a tin of salmon and some dill, this is also a lovely filling. Just use your imagination.
It’s better to poach the chicken a little under rather than overcooked so that it isn’t dry. The cooking process will finish off in the oven.