Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Bite Size Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes Quiche

From Amy's Cookbook

Ingredients:

2oz goat cheese
2oz semi-dry sun dried tomatoes
3 TBS of fresh basil - chopped
1 pkg. Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of milk
Salt & pepper to taste



Method:

Unthaw the sheets of puff pastry. Chop the tomatoes into smaller pieces and mix with goat cheese and basil. Place this mixture back into the fridge if your pastry is still unthawing.

Once the pastry is unthawed take 1 sheet which is divided into 3 sections and cut out 12 circles from the dough. The size should be slightly bigger than the mini-muffin pan. (Each section of the sheet should yield 4 circles.) Once in the pan you can press the pastry dough to come up on the side a bit to outline the mold.

Take the cheese mixture and equally place a small amount in the center of each mold.

Beat eggs, milk salt and pepper. (Not much salt is need as the goat cheese can be salty) in a bowl. You can easily fill the molds with the mixture by using a tablespoon. Each mold can hold 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of egg mixture. I suggest filling each mold once and then repeating.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Since oven temps vary all the time you are baking until the crust becomes a golden brown. I always start off cooking them for 10 minutes and then taking a fork and slightly lifting up one of the quiches from the mold to determine how much time is required.

Cool – and enjoy! Once the quiche start cooling they will begin to sink in the middle – so don’t panic its ok

SIDE NOTES

Semi-Dried Tomatoes:I have only found semi-dry tomatoes once and I don't remember where so I end up buying the regular sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil or if I am lucky water! (I prefer these, as they are not as sweet as the dry). Those of us with curvaceous figures and are looking to make this a little lighter I suggest placing the tomatoes in napkin to squeeze out all the oil. Repeat this until you feel good about it or the paper towel comes out 98% clean! When chopping the tomatoes - you don't have to make it an exact science. Just take your knife over the tomatoes a few time chopping.

Unthawing Puff Pastry:This process can take up to 1 hour or over night depending on your method. Since I am a procrastinator I usually end up waiting the day of 3 hours before I am suppose to have the things ready! Allow the sheets to unthaw folded on the counter top for about 30-45 minutes. Once you can unfold the sheets do so - The sheets will unthaw faster this way. Don't panic if the sheets crack at the fold line) Type of Pan needed:24-Cup Mini Muffin Pan - they make 12-cup pans as well. I suggest the 24 so you only have to bake once. This recipe yields 24 bite size quiche.

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