Packed lunch mini quiches

It’s  all about making lunch interesting in my kitchen this month, as you may have gathered from my last few posts. This time i’ve been fiddling about with mini quiches. Too much faff? Well no it really doesn’t have to be, especially if you use shop bought ready rolled pastry like I do.

I made these quiches with the intention of using them for Sam’s packed lunches – makes a change from him usual ham rolls and the mixture of pastry with hearty egg and cheese filling gives it a very comforting quality. Of course they also make cracking party canapes, but as party season is over lunchbox fillers they will be!

I baked them just before we went out for a spot of afternoon sledging at the weekend, leaving them to cool ready to be despatched to the freezer. However when we got back into our warm house, the waft of mini quiche was too much to bear. We greedily ploughed into the pastry morsels, and stopped just in time for me to rescue a few for Sam’s lunch (that’s if school’s not cancelled with all this snow).

I put ham and sweetcorn in ours, but you could customise yours with whatever you’ve got to hand – cut up cooked sausage with some grainy mustard, sundried tomatoes and pesto, or keep it simple with just cheese.

Mini quiches
makes 18

1 packet ready rolled shortcrust pastry
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
100ml double cream
100ml milk
2 eggs
10 slices wafer thin ham, chopped
3 tablespoons tinned sweetcorn
Good handful freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Unroll the pastry and stamp out circles with a cutter big enough to line the holes of your muffin tin. The pastry will shrink when it cooks so make sure you’re generous. Press into the tin and then prick with a fork. Place in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.

2. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan then gently fry the chopped shallots for 5 mins until soft. Add the garlic for the final minute then remove from heat and set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Beat together the cream, milk and eggs and season well. In a separate bowl mix together the cooked onion and garlic with the chopped ham and sweetcorn.

4. Take the pastry out of the fridge and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes until firm and pale sandy coloured.

5. Spoon little heaps of the ham mixture into the bottom of each pastry case. Pour over enough egg mixture to fill three quarters of the way to the top.

6. Scatter each with a generous pinch of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and then bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool and then ease the quiches out of their tins with a spreading knife and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Tip: If you have leftover filling like I did, just use silicone muffin trays or cases to bake the eggy mix in the oven – still tasty without the pastry.

I am entering these freezer friendly mini quiches into new blogging event Credit Crunch Munch organised by Helen and Camilla. You can use leftovers for the fillings, they are perfect for batch cooking and make a cracking packed lunch – classic money and time savers!