Spinach Mini Quiche w easy Crust / Mini Quiche with Crust / Eggless Quiche / Eggless Mini Quiche

Quiche is one of the recipes that I have not tried due to high amount of eggs in it.. Today I am sharing a delicious Quiche which is completely egg free.. So was this easy to do?? Yes and No.. The reason was I did mini quiche in muffin tin which does not have a loose bottom.. So had to research quite a lot to ensure that the base does not crack and also comes out clean.. I used the base recipe from cooks.com and the filling was my own.. The crust was so beautifully flaky and soft which is an interesting texture...

Ingredients

For the base / crust

Butter - 1/2 cup / 1 stick (room temperature)
All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/4 tea spoon
Ice Cold Water - 3 - 4 table spoons

Filling

Spinach - 3 cups (chopped)
Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped fine)
Corn - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
All Purpose Flour - 1 table spoon
Milk - 1/2 cup + 2 table spoons
Butter - 2 table spoons
Italian Seasoning - 1 tea spoon
Cheese - 1/2 cup
Green Chili paste - 1 tea spoon (adjust to taste)
Ginger - 1 tea spoon (grated)
Garlic - 1 table spoon (grated)
Salt - 1 1/2 tea spoons

Method

Prepare the crust / base first

Mix together salt and flour in a bowl
Cut the butter into small pieces
With the help of hands, mix together the butter (2 or 3 pieces at a time) with the flour until it resembles bread crumbs
Add 2 table spoons of ice cold water and mix until well blended
Add another table spoon of ice cold water and make a dough..
Add more water if needed..
Make a ball and place in a ziploc
Keep this refrigerated for at least 30 minutes or until use

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
Grease muffin pans well with butter and set aside
After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the refrigerator
Roll out the dough very thinly and cut it to about 6 inches
I used a plastic lid for this. You will get about 12 - 14 discs
Insert each disc in the muffin mold, pressing to fit
Make sure there are no air bubbles
Also creasing the dough gives a cleaner look
Fill the crust with some garbanzo beans or pulses and bake the crust for

about 8 - 10 minutes

While it is baking, let us prepare the filling

Heat butter in a pan
Add the flour and mix well. After 30 seconds, add milk and mix well to ensure there are no lumps
Add 1/2 tea spoon salt and cook for a minute
Remove from heat when it is thicker
Pass it through a strainer to remove any lumps
Add Italian Seasoning and set aside
Boil the corn with a pinch of salt and strain any excess water and set aside
Heat a table spoon of butter in a pan and add cumin seeds
Add green chili paste, ginger paste and garlic paste
Saute for 30 seconds
Add the onions and 1 tea spoon salt and saute until the onions are well done
Add the corn, spinach and tomatoes and mix well
Cook until the spinach wilts - about 2 - 3 minutes
Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to the sauce we did above and mix well
Add 1/2 of the cheese and mix well
Once the crust is done, remove from the oven and remove the garbanzo beans or pulses
Fill the cups with the prepared filling to the full
Add the remaining cheese to each quiche and send it back to the oven for 15  - 20 minutes until the edges of crust are lightly golden brown
Place it on the cooling rack in the muffin pan
After a minute, run the knife around the edges and slowly remove the quiche from the muffin pan
Serve hot!!

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