Mini quiches: Ham & Asparagus, Caramelised onion & Tomato

(makes 48)

Mini quiches are a great (substantial) party food that you can prepare beforehand as they can be served warm or cold! They are pretty easy to make, although i'm still undecided if packet puff pastry is the way to go as they didn't turn out quite as puffy as i would have liked! Blind baking is usually recommended for quiches, but seems a bit excessive for mini quiches, not sure if a fan-forced oven may improve the results? Nonetheless, they look cute and seemed to be a hit at our Fatigue Centre Xmas party!

Prep time: 30 min
Cooking time: 30min - 60min (30min per batch of 24)

Ingredients
Basic quiche mixture (for 24 mini-quiches) x 2

5 eggs
1/3 C cream
1/3 C grated cheddar
salt and pepper
2 sheets puff-pastry

Caramelised onion and tomato (veg)
2 large brown onions
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tomatoes (or a dozen cherry tomatoes, halved)

Ham and asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
80g ham

Special equipment; 
1x 24-mini-muffin tray
1x  68mm cookie cutter

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Spray the mini-muffin tray with oil.
2. Take puff pastry out to thaw (needs 10-15min).
3. Whip the eggs, cream and cheddar together for 1 batch. Season with salt and pepper.

Caramelised onion and tomato
4. For the caramelised onion, thinly slice the onions and sauté for 10min on low heat until softened. Add the brown sugar and balsamic and continue to sauté for 5-10min until soft.
5. Slice the tomato and cut into quarters.
6. Cut both sheets of pastry into 12 circles and then gently press into the muffin tray. 

7. Fill with 1 tsp of caramelised onion, then add in the egg mixture to cover the onions (tart should be 3/4 full). 

8. Top with a quarter-slice of tomato and bake for 30 minutes until brown, rotating the tray halfway if not a fan-forced oven. Remove and cool.
NB. I found it helpful at around 25min to use a knife and go around the edge of the tarts and lift them up slightly out of their case to make sure they can come out easily. This also allows a bit of heat to get to the bottom of the pastry to crisp it up for the remaining 5 minutes.

Ham and asparagus
9. Put together another batch of the quiche mixture and spray the tray again.
10. Cut the spears off the asparagus, then dice the remaining. Slice the ham into small squares.
11. Cut the pastry, press into the sprayed muffin tray and fill the tarts with diced ham and asparagus, then pour in the quiche mixture (until tart is 3/4 full). Top with an asparagus spear.

12. Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown, rotating halfway as needed.
13. Cool for 10-15min, serve on the day!