Savory quiche in a grain-free pâte brisée pie pastry that's easy to roll out and work with. Drop in sausage, cheese, spinach and other ingredients you have on hand.
Quiche takes eggs up a notch and is great dish to impress guests. These mini, grain-free quiches are easy to make and you can drop in all kinds of goodies, because they have a rim that holds it all in. You can literally drop in any ingredients you have on hand.
For these little babies in the picture, I used leftover fennel sausage, greek olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, avocado, red onion, arugula and goat feta. Grain-free, pâte brisée (paht-bree-ZAY), or paleo pie pastry, is often a let down. Many find it's too fragile to even bother with. But this recipe will have you up on your chair, celebrating. It rolls out like a dream and you can handle it without worrying too much about tearing or crumbling. A little Xanthan Gum is the secret! Read on to get the full recipe.
LFG Pâte Brisée
1 C LFG Flour*
2 T Arrowroot Flour
1 t Xanthan Gum
1/2 t Salt
(For sweet pies, add 1 t Lakanto's Monk Fruit Sweetener)
1/4 C Nutiva Superfood Shortening**
1 Large Egg
2-3 T Water (more if necessary)
*LFG Flour is 2:1:1 cassava, coconut and almond flours
** Nutiva shortening is made from compliant, organic, unrefined red palm and virgin coconut oils, not hydrogenated palm oil. I used it over butter because it gives a softer, more flaky crust.
Basic Quiche Filling
3 Pastured or Omega-3 Eggs
1/2 C Grassfed Milk
1/2 t Salt
1 T Melted Butter
1 t Fresh Thyme chopped
1 Pinch Nutmeg
Suggested Drop Ins
Goat Feta
Spinach or Arugula
Roma Tomato (peels and seeds removed)
Olives
Mushrooms
Artichoke hearts
(literally anything you have on hand that you think might taste good. GET CREATIVE!)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 6 holes of a regular size muffin tin.
In a food processor with a dough blade, put your dry ingredients and pulse until mixed. Add shortening and pulse until you have a chunky meal. Add the egg and pulse until you have crumbs. Turn processor on and slowly add water until a dough ball forms. You may need to add more water. I live at high altitude. You're looking for a nice dough ball here so work with it until you get it right. If it seems too wet, you can add a little more arrowroot flour. Once you have a nice dough ball, roll it out on the counter over a little arrowroot flour until it's about 1/8 inch thick.
Find a circular plastic lid that is about 5 inches in diameter, and cut out 6 circles. Lay them onto the buttered muffin holes and let them sink in. Press them down to the bottom of the tin. Next, squish the dough up the sides with your fingertips until the dough reaches the top, but doesn't go over the rim. With the remainder of the dough make 6 skinny, 9 inch ropes for the crust rims. Make circles out of the ropes and set them on top of each crust for the quiche rims. Then take your pointer finger on one hand and your thumb and pointer on the other and pinch a pie crust design all the way around the rim of the crust. If you'd like, roll out whatever crust is remaining and cut out a little leave or heart or another shape as a top crust.
Next, make your quiche filling. In a 1 quart pyrex pourable measuring cup, add all the basic quiche filling ingredients and whisk well. Pour 1/4 cup into each crust. Drop in meat, cheese, veggies and greens. These can hold a lot as the rims keep it all in.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Brush the crusts with an egg wash or cream and bake for 5 minutes more. The mini quiches should lift out fairly easily with a fork.
Serve individual quiches over an LFG rocket salad for an elegant brunch. Pair with Champagne. Bon Apetit!