Shiitake and Bacon Mini Quiches
Ingredients
Quiche Filling
- 1 recipe pie crust dough (or use purchased pie dough) recipe follows
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 + 1/4 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 150 g fresh shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- heaping 1/2 cup gruyere cheese ~2.3oz
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled
Pie Crust Dough
- 2 1/2 cups 313g all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup 226g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
- 1/2 cup 120ml ice water, plus more as needed
Instructions
Prepare Pie Crust Dough (at least 6 hours ahead)
- Using a pastry cutter in a large bowl or a food processor (I prefer a food processor myself) - mix your flour, sugar and salt. Then, add your cubed butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients until you have pea-sized bits of flour and coated butter. If using a food processor, you can achieve these by pulsing your mixture 10-15 times.
- Drizzle your cold water into your mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, until your dough begins to form large clumps. Your dough should feel a little moist, not wet. Add a little more or less than 1/2 cup water if needed - I used 1/2 cup exactly.
- Turn your pie dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Fold the dough over itself several times until the dough becomes cohesive (you will still see dots of butter throughout the dough. Form the dough into a ball, then divide in half.
- Flatten each half into a disc and wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until needed for your recipe (ideally at least 2-6 hours).
- When rolling out the chilled pie dough discs, use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands between rolls. Smooth out the edges if you notice cracks. (See video above.) Keeping your work surface, rolling pin, and hands lightly floured makes rolling out easier.
Fill and Bake Mini Quiches
- Prepare your egg filling. In a large bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or by hand), whisk eggs, milk, heavy cream, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper together until combined. Cover and refrigerate your filling.
- Add your olive oil to a pan, and bring to medium heat. Saute your mushrooms, shallots, and 1/4 tsp salt until soft. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Grease two 12-count standard muffin pans. Note: You can use mini muffin pans here if you prefer, but you will need to adjust your bake time later.
- Working with 1 chilled pie dough at a time, roll dough disc into a 12-inch circle. From the circle, cut rounds using a 2.75 inch (~7cm) round cutter. Re-roll the dough scraps as needed, but try to work quickly to avoid your dough getting too warm.
- Place the dough rounds into greased 12-count muffin pan(s). Press the dough flat into the bottom of the crevice and up the sides.
- Add your bacon crumbles (to taste) and about 1/2 tbsp of mushroom and shallot mixture to each muffin crust. Top each with a sprinkling of gruyere cheese.
- Evenly pour the cold egg filling into each unbaked crust.
- Bake your mini quiches until the center is just about set and edges are lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. The mini quiches should pop right out using a spoon to lift them up.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Freezing ahead: To freeze, cool the baked mini quiches completely, then freeze on a single layer. Once frozen, you can move them to a ziploc bag. Or, alternatively, you can freeze between multiple layers of parchment. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter, then bake at 300°F (149°C) for 15 minutes or until warmed.