Mini Cheese and Vegetable Quiches with homemade shortcrust pastry

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Put the flour in a bowl.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Add the cold butter in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips, until coarse crumbs form.

   💡The butter must stay cold: butter that melts in your hands gives a hard dough instead of a crumbly one. Work quickly, and if the dough warms up, put it back in the fridge.
3. 3
   Add the egg and cold water and quickly bring together with your hands, without kneading, just until the dough comes together.

   💡Knead as little as possible: long kneading develops gluten, and the dough comes out tough and shrinks in the oven.
4. 4
   Whip the soft butter with the sugar, until pale and fluffy.

   BowlHand mixerorStand mixerorWhisk

   💡Cream the butter soft, at room temperature: cold butter doesn't take in air, and melted butter doesn't hold it.
5. 5
   Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.

   Plastic wrapRefrigerator

   💡Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.

For the Fried onion

1. 6
   Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

   StoveFrying pan
2. 7
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 8
   Add the pepper and fry about 10 minutes, stirring, until it softens.

   Stove

To assemble

1. 9
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 10
   Beat the eggs and cream and add the cheese, feta cheese, salt and black pepper and the fried onion and pepper.

   💡The onion goes into the filling soft and golden: in the oven it won't soften any further, and raw onion releases liquid into the crust.
3. 11
   Roll out the dough and line mini quiche pans with it.
4. 12
   Pour the filling into the crust.
5. 13
   Bake at 180°C (355°F) 20–25 minutes, until the filling is set and golden.

   OvenRound pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
6. 14
   Serve hot.