Leek tomato & mushroom quiche

I absolutely cannot write this post without sharing my funny story about quiches. It's funny now. It wasn't so funny when it happened. A few years ago my incredibly thoughtful husband asked me if I would like for him to make me a quiche for Mother's Day. Now, please keep in mind that I was pregnant at the time and very close to delivering Sammy. I flipped out on him upon suggesting quiche! "QUICHE?! You men always get Famous Dave's for Father's Day and that is so much better than QUICHE!" An argument occurred, me wondering how he could possibly suggest QUICHE (and not bbq ribs) and him wondering why I was being so ridiculous.

I claim Pregnancy Crazies because goodness, what a very thoughtful thing for him to consider! Quiche is delicious! And it is a standard go-to for a Mother's Day brunch.

So hopefully you, too, have a thoughtful husband who offers to make you quiche for Mother's Day and hopefully you aren't hormonal and irrational about suggesting such a thing!

Although we joke about that argument often, I don't know if I have ever genuinely told Dan that I'm sorry for being so silly. Husband, I am sorry! I would welcome a quiche made by your wonderful self any day, especially on Mother's Day! I apologize for being a crazy pregnant lady!

This is the first quiche I have made since the Quiche Fight, and I must say that it turned out quite delicious. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Unroll two 9-inch ready-to-bake pie crusts and press them into two 9-inch pie plates. Poke plenty of holes into the surface of the dough with a fork.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 leek (halved lengthwise and thinly sliced; white and light green parts only) and cook until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.

Halve an 8-ounce container of grape or cherry tomatoes.

Chop fresh flat-leaf parsley to equal 1/4 cup.

Coarsely chop 8 ounces of fresh sliced mushrooms.

In a medium bowl, combine:

Sliced leeks

Halved tomatoes

Chopped parsley

Chopped mushrooms

Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix well.

Add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and mix well. I used Kraft Triple Cheddar, which contains white cheddar, sharp cheddar and mild cheddar with a touch of cream cheese. This might be my new favorite!

Mix well.

Divide the mixture between the 2 pie plates.

In a medium bowl, combine:

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

Whisk together and divide between the 2 pie plates. Pour over the top of the veggie-cheese mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked through. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Who needs Famous Dave's when a mama can have something as delicious as this?!

Printable recipe: Leek tomato & mushroom quiche

Tomato-basil and olive-leek tartlets

As a Foodbuzz featured publisher, I have the honor of writing a post for a very good cause. Foodbuzz is donating $50 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for every Top 9 Tea Party Takeover entry received on its site today. Please go to the Kelly Confidential website to donate money toward ovarian cancer research!

The challenge for this takeover is to create the perfect tea party recipe. The scene in the below photo is the closest I get to having tea parties. Do you see the "tea" magnet? I didn't even strategically place that. I saw it and knew I was meant to capture this photo.

I might serve plastic French fries, chicken and watermelon at a tea party, but perhaps not for guests over the age of 5.

My idea of the perfect tea party recipe involves a huge burst of flavor in a teeny tiny bite. Or two teeny tiny bites. I thought of some of the flavors I have fallen in love with recently and incorporated them into two delicious tartlet recipes. If a tea party is on your agenda, you will want to remove the plastic food from your table and make these! They are just what I was aiming for. Big flavor in a small package.

Both tartlets induced an "Oh dear LORD, this is good!" from my husband, my tea party companion.

Start out by defrosting 2 puff pastry sheets according to the package directions. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

While you are waiting for your pastry to defrost and your oven to heat up, combine the following ingredients in a medium bowl:

2 cups cherry and/or grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & pepper

Set aside.

Slice the white parts from 2 medium leeks.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the sliced leeks to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes, or until they are soft. Give them a little sprinkling of salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine:

Cooked leeks

1 cup Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (I used slightly more than this due to my olive obsession)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & pepper

On a floured surface, roll out the defrosted pastry sheets with a rolling pin until they reach a thickness of 1/8 inch.

I used 3 different sizes of tartlet tins, so I cut 3 different sizes of squares from my puff pastry sheets. Round biscuit cutters would work great, too, but I personally love the corners-hangin'-over-the-edge look.

My general size guidelines:

1.5-inch tin (all diameters measured on bottom) = 3x3-inch pastry square

2-inch tin = 4x4-inch pastry square

3-inch tin = 5x5-inch pastry square

Once the squares are cut, use a fork to create perforations over the surface of the pastry squares. Grease the tins and place the pastry squares in their respectively-sized spots. Gently press the centers of the pastries into the bottom of the tins, allowing the corners of the squares to fold over the edges.

Place the tins on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the pastries are flaky and golden in color. You will likely need to bake the tartlets in batches, unless you have an abundance of tartlet tins lying around.

Place a small cube of fresh mozzarella cheese in the center of each pastry (sizes of the cheese cubes should vary depending on the size of the tartlet).

In half of the pastries, top the mozzarella with a spoonful of the tomato-basil mixture. For bigger tartlets, make that 2 or 3 spoonfuls.

In the other half of the pastries, top the mozzarella with a spoonful of the olive-leek mixture.

Top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the mozzarella is gooey and you are salivating.

Top the tomato-basil tartlets with fresh basil, if desired.

Remove from tins and serve immediately. With tea, of course.

These are ridiculously tasty. Your tea party guests will be begging you to please go make more.

Printable Tomato-Basil Tartlet recipe

Printable Olive-Leek Tartlet recipe