Goat Cheese Mini Quiches

These beautiful and tasty goat cheese quiches will fill your kitchen with amazing aroma, and even more so, if you choose to use the mature goat cheese on top of the fresh one in the filling. The individual quiches are very versatile in ways of serving them: paired with a fresh green salad, they make a wonderful brunch; adding some roasted vegetables on the side, and you have the perfect main dish for a vegetarian dinner; cutting each into six portions, they can be served as a part of a finger food buffet.
In short, a dish I’m sure you’ll love.

A few notes:
* As with any quiche dough, the less you handle the dough, the flakier it will be.
* Since the filling does not contain much liquid, I skipped the traditional step of pre-baking the dough before adding the filling.
To make sure the dough still bakes well without this step, it is important to roll the dough fairly thin and to prick it all over with a fork. It is also best to bake the quiches in the lower part of the oven.
* “Herbs de Provence” dried herbs mix, vary from one brand to another. The basic herbs used are, in most cases, rosemary, savory, thyme, oregano and marjoram, with additions such as bay leaves, lavender, tarragon and others herbs. The mix I’ve have used here also contained fennel, basil, garlic, lemon peel and salt.
* Brushing the baked quiches with honey, or maple syrup, when they come out of the oven, may seem odd – but it adds wonderful flavor and aroma. I urge you not to skip this step.

Makes: 4
Prep time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 1 hour
Baking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
For the dough:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick (115 grams) butter, cold, cut into pieces
1-2 Tbs cold water
For the filling:
8 oz (230 grams) fresh goat cheese
1 XL egg
1 Tbs flour
1 heaped teaspoon Herbs de Provence mix (*see note above)
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
2.5 oz (70 grams) ripe mature goat cheese (optional)
¼ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup honey or maple syrup, for brushing

1. The dough: Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor bowl, fitted with the metal blade. Process to a coarse, crumbly mixture, and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the water and knead very briefly, just to form a ball of dough. Do not over mix. Cover with wax paper and keep in the fridge for an hour.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: place the fresh goat cheese, egg, flour, herbs mix, black pepper and salt, in a food processor bowl, fitted with the mixing blade. Mix to a fairly smooth texture.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Place the rack in the lower part of the oven. Prepare 4 individual quiche pans (4.75” (12cm)).
4. Cut the dough into 4 portions. Dust the work space with a bit of flour and roll each to a circle, a bit bigger than the pan. Place the rolled dough over the pan, and attach it to the bottom and sides with your finger. Trim off the edges with a sharp knife. Prick the dough all over with a fork.

5. Scatter the chopped sun dried tomatoes over the dough. Divide the filling mixture between the pans. Add the mature cheese, if using, and the almonds.

6. Bake for 1 hour, until the quiches are golden-brown. Transfer to a rack to cool a bit. Brush with honey or maple syrup, before releasing from the pans onto serving plates. Drizzle a bit more all around and serve warm.