Chicken and Cashew Mini Quiches

These are perfect for children....or picnics....or parties. They're so easy and so versatile. And my two men think they're great which is my main concern. They are, in fact, a lazyman's quiche.

The first time I read about these I was kicking myself - why didn't I think of that before? All you do is make up quiche batter, pour it into greased muffin tins and bake. And you have little individual (pastryless) quiches.

Now don't get me wrong, I love pastry, in fact, I think my last supper would involve a tart of some kind, but these are perfect when you don't have the time to make pastry (and aren't organised enough to have a baked pastry shell in the freezer). And if that's not handy enough, you freeze the leftover quiches to be removed and re-heated as an easy lunch/supper some other time.

You could, of course, make these in mini-muffin tins and you would have double the quantity of bite-sized morsels for a party. Adapt the ingredients to suit yourself.

Chicken and Cashew Mini Quiches
(adapted from the book Chocolate&Zucchini)

Ingredients
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
150g cooked chicken, chopped
250g cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
3 large eggs
375ml whole milk
90g plain flour
100g cheddar, grated
2 tblsp parsley chopped
90g cashews, chopped
1 red pepper, roasted and chopped (if from a jar use about 80g)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 oC and grease a regular size muffin tin (or a mini-muffin tin in which case you would be able to make two batches) with olive oil (I used garlic oil to add a hint of garlic to the mixture).

2. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and whisk again. Sift in the flour, season and whisk until blended (the batter will be thin). Add the chicken, cheese, tomatoes, parsley, red pepper and cashews. Stir to blend.

3. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared tin. You can fill them to the top of each mould as they puff up but do not overflow. Bake for 25-35 mins, depending on the size of your moulds, until golden and puffy. Transfer to a rack to cool for 2 mins. Unmould and serve warm or allow to cool further and serve at room temperature.

Notes:

• You can make the batter up in advance and leave in the fridge, just be sure to give it a good stir before pouring into the tin.