Mini Quiches

Mini Quiches
makes 15 to 18

Crust: Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough - Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces2
1/2 tablespoons very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces
About 1/4 cup ice water

Quiche Mixture

1 1/2 cups of any combination of chopped cooked spinach, chopped cooked broccoli, chopped cooked artichoke hearts, chopped cooked bacon
4 eggs
1/8 cup feta cheese, crumbled,
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 dash paprika
a few sprinkles of your favorite herbs (thyme, basil, parsley, dill, etc.)

additional shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top

Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing -- what you're aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tablespoons of the water if making a double crust, 3 tablespoons if making a singe crust -- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened of form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl and onto a work surface.

Roll out dough and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile mix the quiche mixture together in a medium bowl. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator. Use a 5 inch diameter round cutter to cut out 15 to 18 circles. Place dough in a greased muffin pan. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Fill each crust with the quiche mixture to the top edge of the crusts (about 2 Tbsp. in each). Place back in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle additional cheese on top of each quiche. Place back in oven for one minute to melt cheese. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool use a plastic knife to cut around the edges of each quiche and remove from the muffin pan.