Bite-Sized Quiches With Spinach Are The Best Christmas Appetizer
These cheesy morsels are perfect for holiday finger-food. They’re delicious as a vegetarian option, and better with bacon. The crust is no-fuss and can be used in sweet recipes. Best of all, they can be made ahead of time, frozen and re-warmed.
BITE-SIZED SPINACH AND GOAT CHEESE QUICHES
Yields: 24 Servings
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
INGREDIENTS
- For the dough:
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, plus more for dusting
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 140 grams chilled, unsalted butter, grated
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- For the spinach-goat cheese filling:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup finely chopped white onion
- 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
- ¼ cup, plus 2 tablespoons goat cheese
- Salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste
- Italian seasoning, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- ⅓ cup chopped cooked meat, optional
- 2 eggs
- 2 yolks
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch black pepper
- 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
- For the pastry, sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the grated butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cold water.
- Using a butter knife, stir the liquid into the flour mixture until you have a dough. Knead quickly and gently until smooth then, shape the dough into a ½-inch thin disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Lightly grease a 24 mini-cupcake pan.
- On a floured countertop, with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a circle about ⅛-inch thick.
- Using a round cookie cutter that’s about 2½-inches wide, cut dough and then, gently press them down into the pockets of the greased mini cupcake pan so that the tops are level with the rim.
- Place the pan in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes so your pastry dough becomes firm. In the meantime, cut 24 2-inch squares of parchment paper.
- Remove the pan from the freezer, place one square of parchment into each pastry cup and fill with dried rice, dried peas or pie weights.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden around the edges.
- Remove from oven; let cool 5 minutes and then carefully take the parchment and pie weights out of each crust.
- Turn oven temperature down to 350°F.
- For the filling, sautée garlic, and onion then, add chopped spinach and meat, if using. Add salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning or fresh basil. Once spinach has wilted, remove from heat.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, yolks, milk, and Cheddar cheese; mix well. Add the crumbled goat cheese and sautéed veggie mixture; stir to combine.
- Using a spoon or mini ice cream or cupcake scoop, fill each pastry shell in the pan with the quiche mixture, until just below the top of the pastry.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of each one. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and puffed. Remove from oven.
- Let cool for 5 minutes then carefully remove them from the pan, sliding a knife around the sides if needed to unstick.
- Serve hot, immediately. You can also freeze when cooled and then, thaw and reheat in oven.
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