Mini Quiche Lorainne

The other appetizer I served at our dinner party Saturday was one of my favorites, Mini Quiche Lorainne. This dish is so simple to make, but I've never met anyone who doesn't love it! I tend to make big batches of savory and sweet pie crust and keep it frozen, so I just pulled out a disk to make these. Since there are so few ingredients, I used Gruyere cheese, which really stood out and held it's own over the strong bacon flavor.

Mini Quiche Lorainne

1 pie crust (recipe below or store-bought)

4 large eggs

6 strips of bacon

1 1/2 cups finely grated Gruyere

1/2 tsp. dried French Thyme (I love Penzeys)

Salt and Pepper

2 tbsp. milk or cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Dice bacon, saute' in a skillet until crisp, drain on a paper towel.

Butter and flour a mini muffin tin (24).

Roll out pie crust, use a round cutter to cut 24 rounds.

Place on the muffin tin, gently press down and form into cups.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper and thyme.

Add cheese and bacon, stir together. This mixture should be thick.

Use a tablespoon to spoon mixture into muffin cups, fill to the top.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until puffy and golden.

Use an offset spatula to remove from muffin cups, serve.

Makes 2-12" pie crusts:

3 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
2 sticks of butter, frozen
2 tbsp. shortening
1/2 cup ice water

Add flour, salt and sugar to a large bowl. Whisk with a fork.

Cut butter and shortening into flour in pea sized pieces.

Add water and use a fork to mix until dough just comes together in a ball.

Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for an hour (or overnight) or freeze wrapped tightly in plastic then placed in a freezer storage bag.