70 ENTERTAINING

Mini quiche LorraineMakes 24

These mini quiches taste so much better than the ones you can buy.Freeze them uncooked and then bake from frozen and they will tasteevery bit as fresh as the day you assembled them. For vegetarian quiches,use fried chestnut mushrooms and chopped chargrilled peppers in placeof the bacon and pick a veggie-friendly cheese. My pastry takes lessthan five minutes to make but you can use a 500g block of ready-madeshortcrust pastry instead if you like.

Pastry250g plain flour, plus extra for rolling150g cold butter, cut into cubes1 large egg, beaten

Filling1 tbsp sunflower oil100g smoked rindless streaky baconrashers, cut into 1cm slices

½ small onion, finely chopped2 large eggs200ml half-fat crème fraîche50g Gruyère or mature Cheddarcheese, finely grated

flaked sea saltfreshly ground black pepper

To make the pastry, put the flour and butter in a food processor andblitz on the pulse setting until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.With the motor running, slowly add the beaten egg and blend until themixture begins to come together.

Gather the pastry into a ball and flatten slightly. Roll out on a lightlyfloured surface, until about the thickness of a 50 pence piece. Cut outinto 6cm rounds using a biscuit cutter. Use the pastry rounds to line 2shallow 12-hole bun tins. The sort you would use for fairy cakes butnot a muffin or Yorkshire pudding tin as they will be too deep. Presswell into the base and sides and chill in the fridge. If you only have onetin, make the quiches in 2 batches instead.

To make the filling, heat the oil in a small non-stick frying pan and frythe bacon until it begins to crisp, stirring occasionally. Add the onionand cook for a couple of minutes more until softened, stirring regularly.Leave to cool.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl until just combined – try not to incorporatetoo much air. Stir in the crème fraîche and cheese. Add a good pinch ofsalt and plenty of ground black pepper.

To FREEZE (up to 3 months)Freeze the uncooked quiches in thetins until solid. Remove from thetins by flipping out with a teaspoonand transfer to a rigid container,interleaving with easy-leave orbaking parchment. Cover, label andfreeze.

To SERVEPlace the frozen quiches backinto the bun tins and bake in apreheated oven at 200°C/Fan180°C/Gas 6 for 20–22 minutes oruntil the pastry is nicely brownedand the filling is cooked.

068-097 Entertaining Freeze.indd 70068-097 Entertaining Freeze.indd 70 12/11/2012 22:0212/11/2012 22:02

Divide the bacon and onion mixture between the pastry cases andspoon a little of the egg mixture into each one, filling each pastry caseto the top.

To cook now, bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 for18–20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned and the filling hascooked. Serve warm or cold.

068-097 Entertaining Freeze.indd 71068-097 Entertaining Freeze.indd 71 13/11/2012 12:3613/11/2012 12:36