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. 

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. 

Baked Stuffed French Toast

For J's birthday brunch, I made these baked stuffed french toast. It's a proper meal on it's own as it contains bread, ham, cheese, tomato, spinach, eggs and milk. We also added a drizzle of maple syrup for decadence and it works really well with the french toast as it gives the perfect balance of sweet and salty. You can prepare the french toast in advance and bake them when required which is ideal if you have guests staying over or just for a lazy weekend brunch. 

I'm sending it to Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes. The theme is Bank Holiday Bakes and we are asked to share what we make to relax, share with friends or take on picnics.

 

 Make a slit in the bread 

 fill it with ham, cheese, spinach and tomato or fillings of your choice 

 let it soak in the egg/milk mixture for about 30 minutes 

 turn it over and soak again or place in the fridge overnight 

 For extra decadence, I added a slice of ham and cheese on top before baking 

 Fresh from the oven - the cheese melted beautifully on the outside  

 With a drizzle of maple syrup 

Makes 2 large servings (enough to feed 4 or 2 very hungry people)

2 large slices of bread from a large loaf (I used a poppyseed bloomer)

4 slices of ham

2 slices of cheese

2 tomatoes, sliced

handful of spinach

4 eggs

2/3 cup milk 

salt and pepper to taste 

Maple syrup to serve (optional) 

• Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add the milk and stir.
• Pour into a large shallow dish.
• Prepare the bread by making a slit in each slide of bread - you need quite a thick slice of bread to fit the fillings
• Fill your sandwich with fillings of your choice -  used a slice of ham and a slice of cheese, some sliced tomatoes and a few spinach leaves
• Place the bread in the egg/milk mixture and let it soak for about 30 minutes.
• Turn the bread over and soak for a further 30 minutes. You can wrap it in clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight at this point if required. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place a slice of ham and cheese on top of the sandwich (optional)
• Bake in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the egg mixture is set. 
• Slice and enjoy with a drizzle of maple syrup. 

Savoury toast cups

This is not a dessert or sweet dish but I wanted to share it with you as I made it for my recent afternoon tea for the first time and everyone loved it! It's so simple to make and the variations are endless. These would be perfect for breakfast/brunch or afternoon tea. They were absolutely delicious! I was really impressed that they held their shape (apart from the vegetarian ones) and I love the individual portions. One of my guests suggested baking them in ramekins which is a brilliant idea. 

I decided to make a miniature full breakfast and put bacon, mushroom, spinach, tomato and egg in a toast cup. I also made 2 tomato, mushroom and spinach at the request of my guests. You can vary the ingredients depending on what you like. I can imagine sausages, peppers, courgettes or cheese being ideal ingredients - perhaps not all at once! The trick is not to overfill which is what I did as I wanted as many ingredients as possible.

 I used bacon (cooked until just brown), mushroom, spinach, eggs and tomatoes (not shown)

 Get a large round cutter and cut out a circle of bread. 

 use a rolling pin to flatten 

 cut each circle in half and use it to line a muffin tin rounded side up. Cut a quarter of the flattened bread and use to place in the centre. Alternatively, you can use the whole circle but you'll get some ridges. 

 Brush melted butter over the bread before filling. If you are using bacon, remember to pre-cook the bacon - do not use raw bacon as it will not cook properly. Push a piece of bacon into the toast cup with the sides overhanging, then add vegetables on top 

 Finally crack an egg in each cup - I only managed this once (bottom row, middle) as the others overflowed (bottom right) The solution - crack 2 eggs in a bowl, give it a light whisk and pour a little egg mixture into each cup. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes depending on how you like your eggs done. I took them out whilst the yolk was still runny but the egg whites were just set 

 the finished product - I love the crispy bacon edge!

 cross section 

Ham, cheese and mushroom muffins

This is the carnivorous version of the spinach and cheese muffin I made earlier. In fact I've been making quite a few batches of these muffins to freeze as they are so simple to make and so convenient to have for breakfast or for a snack. I've also added some cherry tomatoes to a batch which worked really well.

 cook the mushrooms in butter 

 chop up the ham 

 I had some leftover spinach leaves so added that to a few of my muffins 

 delicious! 

50g butter

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

80g button mushroom, chopped

350g plain flour

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

250g cheddar cheese, grated

220ml whole milk

1 egg

80g smoked ham, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then fry the onion and mushrooms until cooked. 
• Season with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.
• Put the flour, baking powder and cheese in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix the milk and egg together, then slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat with an electric handheld whisk until all the ingredients are well mixed. 
• Stir in the onion, mushrooms and chopped ham with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed. 
• Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until deep golden and the sponge bounces back when touched. 
• Leave the muffins to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

Spinach and cheese muffins

I decided to dabble in the savoury side for once. In fact I was getting a bit bored of smoothies for breakfast and thought muffins would make good breakfast food. I went to my trusted hummingbird bakery cookbook for a recipe and it turned out great. They're really simple to make and freeze well too! I tired the ham and cheese version which was even better in my book. 

30g butter

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

360g plain flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cayenne powder

250g cheddar cheese, grated

220ml whole milk

1 egg

130g baby spinach leaves

• Preheat oven to 170C.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then fry the onion until cooked.
• Set aside.
• Put the flour, baking powder, cayenne and cheese in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix the milk and egg together, then slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat with a handheld whisk until all the ingredients are well mixed. (I used a spatula)
• Stir in the onion and spinach with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed. 
• Spoon the mixture into muffin cases until 2/3 full and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until deep golden and the sponge bounces back when touched.
• Leave to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.