Spinach, Tomato and Mushroom Mini Frittatas

We had our neighbours round at the beginning of December for pre-Christmas drinks and nibbles. I made some festive bites which were quick and easy to do and tasted delicious. Initially I planned to make a quiche but I came across this recipe on Italian Food Forever and decided to give it a go. I used spinach and cherry tomatoes for their festive colours and added in some mushrooms. This recipe is so versatile as you can basically add whatever ingredients you fancy. They keep well too and tasted great for breakfast the next day. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter this month is N and I am using it for 'Noel' as Caroline is accepting any Christmas related entries. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Red and Green aka Christmas. 

Extra Veg guest hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy.

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is Anything Goes and this recipe uses 8 large free range eggs.

 eggs, milk, spinach, mushroom, tomato 

 egg and milk mixture 

 add in the filling 

Makes 12 mini Frittatas

8 large free range eggs
250mls milk
salt and pepper
180g baby spinach, sauteed and drained
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
handful of chestnut mushrooms, chopped and sauteed

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Grease a non stick 12 cup muffin tin.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper. 
• Pour evenly into the muffin cups. 
• Add in a spoonful of mushrooms and a handful of spinach to each cup.
• Add 2 cherry tomato halves. 
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until set. 
• Allow to cool before serving. 

Mini Pork Pies with Quails Eggs

Last month I mentioned that I tried hot water crust pastry for the first time. Quite a few of you have been wondering what I made. Well I decided to be brave and had a go at Paul Hollywood's small pork pies with quails eggs! If you've watched the Great British Bake Off, you will know that it was one of the technical challenges and has been on my 'to bake' list for a while. I have to admit I was a little nervous and kept reading the recipe to make sure I'd not missed anything. I can see why it's a technical challenge - it's not as simple as it looks! I followed his recipe exactly but found I had too much filling so I made another batch of the hot water crust pastry and baked 12 mini pork pies. You can of course make half the filling for 6 pork pies.

So what did I learn from this experience? I can make hot water crust pastry - yay! It was really simple and I followed the recipe exactly. However, as mentioned for this recipe I had to make 2 lots of pastry for the amount of filling stated. I might have to get a larger muffin tin or just halve the amount of filling. The part that I struggled with was sealing the lid of the pastry - I ended up using the top of a teaspoon to push it into the pie and to create a seal. You do  have to work quickly with the hot water crust pastry as it dries out and hardens the longer you leave it, making it more difficult to mould. I'm glad I made the batches of pastry one at a time instead of just doubling up the amounts. The other slight stumbling block was that the recipe said to make a hole in the centre of each pie - my pies were really full and there wasn't much space at all. The centre was where the quails egg was so the top of the egg got a little brown. In addiction, I could only get a small amount of gelatine mixture in but it worked and you can see it in the pie after it's been chilled.

All in all it was a great learning experience and I am really pleased with the final result. J was most impressed and we still have a few left in the freezer for a rainy day. We had these pork pies with a salad on a weekend and it was perfect. I am definitely making these again particularly in the summer for picnics or packed lunches.

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month.

AlphaBakes hosted by me this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is Q for Quails eggs!

The pastry challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Lisa from United Cakedom. The theme this month is picnics and thes mini pork pies are easily transportable plus you can bake them in advance.

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is savoury.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Eurovision. These pork pies are very British and they are mini versions.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Sandwiches, Wraps and Rolls. These are a sneaky entry but they definitely fit the savoury theme!

Biscuit Barrel challenge guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than ...  The theme this month is Party and these are definitely great for parties.

Bake of the week hosted by Helen from Casa Costello.

Recipe of the week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

 bring water and salt to a boil then add the lard 

 rub butter in to the flour 

 the dough comes together nicely 

 

 adding the filling - you can see that it was a bit of a squeeze for my filling 

 you can see the quails egg poking out through the hole in the centre and there's not much of a gap for the gelatine mixture 

 baked and chilled overnight in the fridge 

 ta dah! 

 served with fresh green salad 

Recipe from BBC Food 

Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom Quiche

This is one of the tastiest quiches I've made. Although I'm not vegetarian, I have found that the vegetarian quiches tend to taste better than the meat/fish ones. This broccoli and red pepper quiche was a real hit at my Christmas party last year and I've had repeat requests to bake it again. However, this may well trump that as it was just so tasty! I was a little worried about a soggy bottom particularly as the recipe calls for spinach and mushroom - two ingredients that excrete a lot of water whilst cooking. I made sure I strained the spinach well ensuring it was very dry before using in the quiche.  The mushrooms were roasted in the oven first so you can discard any excess water.  The quiche looks very impressive with the large mushrooms on top with the green spinach poking through. The mustard and ricotta worked well and really brought all the flavours together. 

I'm sending this to Extra Veg hosted this month by Jo from Jo's Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families.

Cooking with herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage as the recipe uses thyme. 

Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is white vegetables and these large flat mushrooms are definitely white! 

Simple and in Season hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours on behalf of Ren. Spinach is available all year round but it's in season in spring. 

 mix the ricotta cheese with grainy mustard 

 spread cheese/mustard layer on the bottom of the quiche 

 add the cooked and strained spinach 

 arrange the flat mushrooms on top 

 pour in the cream/egg mixture 

 Ready to eat! I took this to work so I don't have any pictures of the cut slice. 

Recipe adapted slightly from BBC Food which is a James Martin recipe from Saturday Kitchen

For the pastry (or use ready made)
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, cut into pieces
8 tablespoons cold water

For the filling

4 large flat mushrooms 

Handful of thyme leaves

400g spinach leaves

250g ricotta cheese 

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

3 egg yolks

300ml double cream 

salt and pepper

• To make the pastry using a food processor - place the flour and butter and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Alternatively, rub the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Roll into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line your tart tin. 
• Use a small ball of pastry scrap to press the pastry into the corners of the tin. 
• Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Line the tart case with kitchen foil or baking paper and fill with baking beans. 
• Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and foil/paper and continue baking for 5 - 10 minutes until the pastry is light brown.
• Grease a 25cm/10in loose-bottomed tart tin with butter.
• At the same time, place the mushrooms onto a baking tray and sprinkle with thyme leaves. 
• Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until they start to soften and excrete water. Discard any excess water.
• Bring a large pan of water to boil and add a tablepoon of olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until it's just wilted.
• Drain twice and press with a paper towel to ensure that the spinach is dry. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Place the ricotta into a bowl and stir in the grainy mustard. 
• Spoon the mustard and ricotta mixture into the bottom of the tart case, top with the wilted spinach, and carefully place the roasted mushrooms on top.
• Place the egg yolks and cream into a bowl and whisk until mixed. 
• Pour this mixture into the tart case.
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until it's golden brown and gently bubbling.
• Allow to cool before slicing. 

Bacon, mushroom and sun dried tomato egg muffins

This is a quick and easy recipe which is perfect for breakfast on the go, brunch or a picnic. It's easily adapatable to suit your tastes and does not require much preparation or fancy equipment. British Lion Eggs contacted me to create a recipe using eggs. In return I received an electronic egg boiler which I can't wait to try out. Did you know that 32 million eggs are eaten in the UK every day? (figure is an estimate for 2014 from British Lion Eggs website) 

According to British Lion Eggs,eggs are one of the most nutritious foods MONEY can buy - they are a natural source of many NUTRIENTS including high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. A medium egg contains less than 70 calories.  Eggs are naturally RICH in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. They also contain vitamin A and a number of other B vitamins including folate, biotin, pantothenic acid and choline, and essential minerals and trace elements, including phosphorus. *

Some helpful hints on egg storage and handling*

• Look for the British Lion mark to guarantee that the eggs have come from hens vaccinated against salmonella
• Make sure that there is a best before DATE on the egg - this is not a legal requirement, but all British Lion eggs are date-stamped
• If you take eggs out of their box, make sure you store and use them in date order
• Store eggs at a constant temperature below 20°C – in most domestic kitchens, the fridge is the best place to keep them
• Take them out of the fridge half an hour before cooking for the best results
• Store away from strong smelling food - egg shells are porous
• Store away from raw meat
• Wash your hands before and after handling eggs
• Never use dirty, cracked, or broken eggs
• Do not re-use left-over egg dishes

For this recipe, I added pancetta cubes, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms. I was going to add spinach but I used it for another recipe! I also added in a handful of cheddar cheese as I had a small bit leftover. We had these for breakfast and it was tasty and filling. It was light and fluffy and just the right balance of ingredients. I can't wait to make different variations of this especially in the summer. 

I'm sending this to an egg-cellent new challenge all about eggs called Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen.

 whisk eggs in a bowl and add other ingredients 

 divide mixture evenly in a muffin tray 

Makes 10 muffins
6 eggs
splash of milk (optional)
approximately 30g grated cheddar cheese (optional)
3 white mushrooms, finely chopped
1 box of pancetta cubes
5 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Grease muffin pan well.
• Lightly pan fry the pancetta cubes until just cooked.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and add a splash of milk.
• Add in the chopped mushrooms, sun dried tomato and cooked pancetta.
• Season with ground black pepper - I didn't use any salt as the pancetta and sun dried tomatoes were salty but if you choose different ingredients then you may want to add a bit of salt.
• Divide the mixture evenly in the muffin tray.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
• Serve warm or cold.

Disclaimer: I was sent an electronic egg boiler in return for creating this recipe using eggs for British Lion Eggs. * Extracts of text are taken from British Lion Eggs website and have been marked with an *