Mini quiches with filo pastry are quick and easy to make and the ideal solution if you a) prefer a lighter pastry and b) don’t want to make pastry in the first place.
I was surprised to realise upon compiling this post that filo pastry was something I’d barely used on this site. In fact it’s not featured in one of my own recipes – honey and pistachio gibanicas – since way back in 2011 and even then was used in a manner that didn’t show off the flaky layers of fine pastry we associate filo with.
Filo pastry is often seen in various weight watching menus, indeed it’s less stodgier than shortcrust pastry. But having lovingly painted each layer with molten butter I’d stop a long way short of calling this a diet recipe. I’m optimistic though that it’s lighter than shortcrust but don’t quote me on this. After the first couple of pastry cases I did suss a technique of positioning each wet buttered layer down on the next sheet of filo so to both save time on painting butter and to use less of it.
Inside our filo cases we have used up the remainder of the Christmas smoked salmon mountain; these can be served at party buffets and we even ate left over ones for breakfast.
Whatever your choice of pastry, the essential ingredient of any quiche is of course eggs. You can tweak pretty much any other ingredient but I’m yet to discover a genuine quiche without any eggs. Eggs, just like the boxed filo pastry sheets, are a store cupboard ingredient from which you could whip these quiches up from the pantry and freezer. I often stash a 100g pack of smoked salmon in my freezer – it defrosts inside 30 minutes if you float it in a shallow sink of cool water – and lately I’ve also taken a liking to handy bags of grated cheese.
The only laborious part of this recipe is painting the molten butter on the filo pastry sheets. For this I recommend pulling up a stool and sticking on some music or streaming some TV on a tablet whilst you get on with it. Overall though it’s less faff than actually making your own pastry.
The super thing about making individual quiches is that you’re not limited to one filling – you could make several flavour fillings at once. I always make a beeline for quiche on party buffets as it makes me feel like I’ve eaten something substantial rather than picking at crisps and dips. The filo cases look very eye catching and avoid that cloying feeling of too high pastry to egg filling ratio you might otherwise experience with mini quiches.
Have you ever used filo pastry to make quiches? I’m definitely going to make a point of experimenting with it in future – I even used the off cuts to make some dinky parcels filled with chocolate and jam!
The full printable recipe is shown below but here are some step by step pictures to show you the process of making filo quiches.
Paint each sheet of filo with butter and fold into quarters, trim to a square shape and set the off cuts aside. Mould each square of filo into the hole of a well greased 12 bun tin and carry on painting as you go.
Slice up some spring onions, arrange these in the filo cases with a strip of smoked salmon. In a jug beat some British Lion Eggs with half fat creme fraiche.
Pour the egg and creme fraiche mix into the filo pastry cases. Bake at gas 6 / 200c for 7 minutes. After this time briefly remove them from the oven, scatter a little grated cheese over each case and loosely cover with foil to stop the pastry scorching during the remaining cooking time. Return to the oven for another 6-7 minutes until the egg filling has firmed up.
You can serve these salmon filo quiches immediately whilst still warm but they are equally tasty when cold.
Salmon Filo Quiches (with British Lion Eggs)
Ingredients
- 12 sheets filo pastry
- 250 g butter melted
- 4 large British Lion Eggs
- 2 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
- 3 spring onions finely sliced into rings
- 100 g smoked salmon torn into strips
- 75 g grated cheddar cheese
- Greased 12 hole bun tin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to gas 6 / 200c.
- Paint each sheet of filo with butter and fold into quarters, trim to a square shape and set the off cuts aside.
- Mould each square of filo into the hole of a well greased 12 bun tin and carry on painting as you go.
- Arrange the sliced spring onions in the filo cases with a strip of smoked salmon.
- In a jug beat the 4 British Lion Eggs with 2 tablespoons of half fat creme fraiche until smooth.
- Pour the egg and creme fraiche mix into the filo pastry cases.
- Bake at gas 6 / 200c for 7 minutes. After this time briefly remove them from the oven, scatter a little grated cheese over each case and loosely cover with foil to stop the pastry scorching during the remaining cooking time. Return to the oven for another 6-7 minutes until the egg filling has firmed up.
- You can serve these salmon filo quiches immediately whilst still warm but they are equally tasty when cold.
This post is the latest in a series using British Lion Eggs during 2016; here is a recap of the others you may have missed;
Spicy Egg Wraps with Pork & Chorizo
Crustless Quiche with Pea and Feta
Egg and Bacon Barbecued Shakshuka
This salmon filo quiches post was commissioned by British Lion Eggs. For further egg inspiration, keep up with British Lion Eggs via their Instagram feed @egg_recipes
Perfect way of using up the smoked salmon that needs getting gone! I love the lightness of filo pastry.