I can recall, as a young single mama, wishing for mornings when I wouldn’t have to jump out of bed and start bustling around to get breakfast going, laundry started, and rushing the kids off to school or a soccer game. I would dream of days when I could just leisurely lie in bed, read, and then cook something that was just right – and just for me – without worrying that someone didn’t like an ingredient or dish.
And now that those days are here, I do very much appreciate quiet and peaceful times, but at the same time I find myself missing those jam-packed, noisy, and even chaotic mornings, filled with the innocent voices, laughter, and hugs from the ones I cherish most. And thankfully, I still get to enjoy my loves, but a lot less often. And although their voices are not quite as innocent, and I have to reach a bit for the hugs, they are just as precious.
All that to say, I enjoyed waking up this morning with time to make a nice buttery pie crust from scratch for a leisurely breakfast of mini quiche just for myself and my daughter. I can still smell the rosemary lingering in my bedroom as I write. Cozy.
For these quiche, I used feta cheese, arugula and tomatoes that I roasted with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic. I added a little rosemary to the pie crust which really enhanced the flavor and aroma.
Feel free to swap out these ingredients for your favorites, or whatever you have on hand.
Enjoy!
| Roasted Tomato, Arugula and Feta Cheese Mini Quiche |
- 6-8 eggs
- 3/4 cup half and half (or milk)
- kosher salt to taste
- 4-5 small tomatoes
- handful of fresh arugula, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup (or more) feta cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- For the pie crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter – 1 stick chilled in freezer, 1 stick at room temperature (butter should be cubed)
- about 5 – 7 tablespoons water, iced
- 1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In small bowl whisk together vinegar, oil, garlic. Toss in tomatoes and cover evenly. Place in small roasting dish (with dressing) and roast for about 20 minutes until skin looks withered.
- For the crust, add the flour, sugar and salt in ood processor and pulse a couple times. Then add the room temperature butter and pulse until it’s completely incorporated. Retreive the cold butter from the fridge, add to the flour mixture and pulse until you see pea-size chunks of butter.
- If you can, put the ice water in a spray bottle – it’s the easiest way to add the moisture evenly to the dough without adding too much. Just spritz and pulse until the mixture comes together, but is not too moist. Contine until your mixture holds together when squeezed in your hand and then easily breaks apart. You may not need to use all the liquid.
- Gather mixture by covering with parchment paper, scooping it all up, and then wrapping in a little package using parchment paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto lightly floured, surface. Note: Have some dental floss ready as you will most likely want to use it to slide between the surface and the dough if it gently sticks to the surface. This helps you keep the dough in one piece. Roll out a round crust to 1/4″ thickness. To keep it as even as possible, roll from center in an upward motion, turn the dough a couple inches and repeat until done.
- Grease tins with butter. If you don’t have individual ones, you can use cupcake tins. With cookie cutter (or the top of a cup), cut round shapes and insert individually in tins. To keep crust from rising and bubbling, fill each cup with dry beans or pastry weights before pre-baking the shells. Bake for about 7-8 minutes, remove the weights and return to oven for about 5 more minutes until lightly browned.
- For egg mixture, in mixing bowl, whisk eggs with a bit of salt and pepper and set aside. In small pot, heat half and half (or milk) to just prior to a boil, remove from heat and cool. Once cooled to warm, beat into egg mixture.
- Quiche Assembly
- Over pre-baked shells, layer bottom of each muffin cup with a little cheese and arugula. Pour in egg mixture to 3/4 full. Don’t overfill because the egg souffles during baking. Place sliced tomato on the top with a liittle more cheese, and garnish with a bit more rosemary if desired. Bake for about 20 minutes until light, golden brown. a little more cheese.
