Brunch: Gorgonzola Quichettes!

Elegant and delightful these Gorgonzola quichettes with red onion & thyme confit would make any brunch or afternoon tea dazzle! They only need ten minutes in the oven and the pastry cases can be prepared even a few days in advance, the filling keeps in the fridge for 24 hours, so the only job on the day is to put the filling in the case, beat some mascarpone with egg yolks and spoon it over - ten minutes in the oven and finish off with onion confit. It couldn’t be easier to entertain a crowd without slaving away in the kitchen while everybody is out having fun!

Gorgonzola Quichettes

200 g shortcrust pastry* (ready-rolled)
15 g butter
1 medium red onion (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 heaped tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp thyme leaves
pepper
150 g gorgonzola
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp mascarpone (ca. 175 g)
2 tbsp single cream
salt, pepper

MAKE
Prepare the pastry cases in advance. (You can also buy them ready-made from specialist suppliers.)
Pre-heat oven to 200 C. Line 24 mini shallow bun or muffin tins** with shortcrust pastry (I have a non-stick and a silicone mold, so don’t need to grease it, but do so if your tin requires it), the dough shouldn’t be thicker than 1-2 mm.
Cut off surplus dough and smooth round the edges.
Prick with a fork, then line with small pieces of grease-proof paper and fill with baking beans or pulses.
Place tray in the oven and blind-bake pastry for 10 minutes, it should be cooked through, but not too brown on the edges. Leave pastry shells to cool, then store in an air-tight container.
For the onion confit, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, fry the onions until browning, then add the sugar and let caramelize.
Deglaze with the balsamic vinegar and cook over a low heat, enough for the onions to soften through and the vinegar to lose its edge.
This should take about 15 minutes. Add the thyme leaves and season to taste.
The confit will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.
To finish the quichettes, pre-heat oven to 180C.
Beat the egg yolks with the marscarpone and cream, season to taste.
Fill the pastry cases with roughly half a teaspoon full of gorgonzola, then top with a teaspoon full of the egg/cream mixture.
Make sure the cases are not filled all the way to the top as the filling will rise. Put into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the mixture has set and is browning on top.
Meanwhile, gently warm the onion confit in a pan or the micro-wave to make it easier to handle.
Remove the mini-quiches from the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes.
Top with half a teaspoon of onion confit and serve while still warm.

Source: Yum! ®’s Blog