Quiche in a Jar #2 - With a Pastry Crust

I posted a fun recipe yesterday for Quiche in a Jar.....
I served these recently as part of a buffet for a wedding shower and they were a big hit. This unique twist on a traditional quiche would also be fun for a brunch, a ladies lunch or really any gathering of family and/or friends. One wonderful advantage to this yummy recipe is that it can be prepared ahead and frozen - just unthaw these individual servings, pop them in the oven to rewarm and you have a super easy, delicious breakfast, lunch or casual dinner. I love to serve these quiches with a simple green salad to make a lovely, interesting presentation.

The quiche recipe I posted yesterday was for a crustless quiche; basically - eggs, half and half and cheese blended together along with a bit of fresh corn and crumbled Italian sausage, poured into small jam jars and baked until puffed, golden, fragrant and ................ delicious!

Today's recipe adds one extra step, lining the quiche jars with a flaky, delicious pastry which takes this yummy treat right over the top! As you can see in the pictures these individual quiches are adorable and taste as good as they look. So if you have a bit more time, give these crusted quiches a try, I think you will love the extra layer of deliciousness. But really either way, you can't go wrong!

P.S. Oh, and I used the extra dough to make the fun little heart shaped decorations for the top of the quiches - yummy and pretty too!

Crusted Quiche In A Jar

Ingredients

1 tablespoon softened butter, for jars

2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 ears fresh corn - you could also use lightly steamed, chopped, broccoli or cooked, chopped spinach.

2 cooked Italian sausage - you could also use chopped ham or cooked and crumbled bacon 

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano or a combination of fresh herbs

6 large eggs

2 cups half-and-half

freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups shredded Gruyere cheese (feel free to use any type of cheese that  you like, Cheddar, Swiss, Fontina, whatever is you favorite)

1 recipe pastry crust - I used this recipe but you could use a purchased box of refridgerated pastry crust such as Pillsbury Pie Crust.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 12 four ounce jelly jars with cooking spray - you could use other size jars if you want - just make sure that they are actually canning jars because other types of jar won't stand up to the heat of the oven. Also you will have to adjust how many jars you use, depending on the size of your jars.

2. Roll out pastry to a 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured work surface.  Cut 12 circles approximately the size of the inner bottom of your jars. Place a circle in the bottom of each jar.

3. Measure the inner circumference and inner height of one of the jars. Cut strips of dough 1/4 inch longer in length than the inner circumference of the jar. The narrower width of the strips should be the inner height of the jar. If you are using a purchased pastry dough, you may have to piece the dough together to get all the strips you'll need as the dough usually comes in two circles per box.

4. Fit each strip along the inner edges of each jar, gently pressing the dough together at the bottom edges and the seam of each strip.

5. Using a your fingers or a small round instrument (I used a lollipop stick dipped in flour) flute the edges at the top of the crust, being careful to keep dough contained in the jar. When all 12 jars are lined with dough, place on a sheet pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon salt and1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in cheese. 

3. Place jars on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide crumbled sausage and fresh corn between the jars Ladle in egg mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until golden brown and puffed up, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Notes:

I like to use the scraps that are left over and cut out fun shaped little decorations for the quiches.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

PRINTABLE RECIPE