Quiche Pastry Cups Recipe

We love experimenting with puff pastry and love this clever idea of filled puff pastry cups!

Use the concept of the recipe and make it your own by using ingredients you and your family love.  A simple pastry cup filled with eggs and cheese would be awesome.

This recipe and photo comes from the website Taste of Home, link follows recipe.

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 30 min. Bake: 15 min.

YIELD:18 servings

Ingredients

1 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry, thawed
4 large eggs, divided use
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half cream, divided
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Gruyere cheese
1-1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. 

Unfold puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.  

Roll each sheet into a 12-in. square and cut each into nine squares. 

Gently press onto ungreased muffin cups on bottoms and up sides, allowing corners to point up.

In a small bowl, whisk 3 eggs, 1 cup cream, thyme and seasonings. 

In another bowl, combine cheese, spinach, red pepper and bacon and divide among pastry cups. 

Pour egg mixture over cheese mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg with remaining cream and brush over pastry edges. 

Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the pastry cups to wire racks. 

Serve warm.

Freeze option: 

Cover and freeze baked pastries on greased baking sheets until firm. Transfer to resealable plastic freezer bags and return to freezer. 

To use, reheat frozen pastries on ungreased baking sheets in a preheated 375° oven 17-20 minutes or until heated through. 

Recipe and Photo Source:  Taste of Home

Quick and Easy Apple Tart

I guess you could follow The Pioneer Woman's recipe . . . but make it easy for yourself and use this recipe as inspiration and use the frozen puff pastry with canned apple pie filling (Comstock is excellent).  Talk about some awesome convenience foods!

Ingredients

1 whole Sheet Puffed Pastry, Thawed And Cut In Half
4 whole Apples, Cored, Halved And Sliced Very Thin
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 dash Salt
Powdered Sugar, For Serving
Caramel Sauce, For Serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray. Add sugar and salt to apples. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Remove from pan immediately and place on a serving platter. Serve plain, with caramel topping, whipped cream, and/or a sprinkling of powdered sugar. 

Photo and Recipe Source 

Mushroom Cheese Bread

This bread is like little french bread pizzas!

Love the ingredient combination, but you know you can add or remove ingredients so it matches your family's tastes.  I would add italian sausage and peppers.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite recipe sources, Taste of Home.

Perfect recipe for a beginner in the kitchen . . . quick and easy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1 loaf (1 pound) unsliced French bread

Directions

Combine the mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and onion. 

Cut bread in half (lengthwise) and spread cheese mixture over cut sides.

Grill, covered, over indirect heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Slice and serve warm. 

Yield: 10-12 servings

Recipe and photo source

Originally published as Mushroom Cheese Bread in Quick Cooking July/August 2005, p37

Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars

A delicious looking cheesecake bars recipe from Betty Crocker!

Ingredients

Crust

1 pouch Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter, softened 

1 egg 

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Filling

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened 

1/2 cup sugar 

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

2 eggs 

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup fresh raspberries

Directions

Heat oven to 325°F. 

Spray bottom only of 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray.

Mix crust ingredients with spoon until soft dough forms in a large bowl. 

Press dough in bottom of pan. 

Bake 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven to cooling rack and cool 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon peel with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl frequently. 

Add eggs, one at a time and beat until just blended. 

Beat in lemon juice. 

Reserve 1/4 cup filling and set aside. 

Spread remaining filling over cooled crust.

Mash raspberries with fork.  Push mixture through small strainer with back of spoon to make 1/4 cup raspberry puree. 

Stir puree into reserved filling. 

Drop spoonfuls of raspberry mixture on cream cheese layer. 

Carefully swirl into top of cream cheese layer with a knife.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is set. 

Cool 30 minutes on cooling rack. 

Refrigerate about 2 hours or until cooled completely. 

Cut in 6 rows by 4 rows.

Watch Video

Photo and recipe source

Quick and Easy Cherry Cobbler

It doesn't get any easier than this Cherry Cobbler recipe from Betty Crocker. OK, I guess you could use canned biscuits, but other than that . . . easy enough for a beginner!

Let me deviate from the recipe for a minute and discuss the concept of semi-homemade, using convenience foods in meal preparation.  

A comment from a disgruntled reader brought this discussion to a food website comment board making advocates of semi-homemade cooking seem lazy and uncaring about their family by fixing a meal using these shortcut tricks.  

You know, there is a time and place for everything!  

I am an advocate of both styles of cooking.  While I can make the best "from scratch" biscuits using the same recipe I've used since junior high school home ec class, there are times I want quick and easy.  That is why I always have a box of Bisquick on hand.  The Captain and I have recently added canned fruit filling, puff pastry sheets and OMG . . . jarred spaghetti sauce to our pantry for those times.  If I really think about it, we probably stock many other convenience foods . . . oh yeah, chicken stock!

There have been times that I've spent hours in the kitchen making a spaghetti sauce using tomatoes, peppers and herbs from my garden.  No convenience there!  It is all about the time you have on your hands.

In my working days, I wanted quick and easy semi-homemade meals since after a day at the office, I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen.  A good meal and time to unwind is what I wanted.  On the weekends, I would go crazy cooking and many times making and freezing extra food for during the week. It is all about choice!

She probably thinks that using a slow cooker is also evil . . .

OK, rant over . . . the woman's comments really upset me!

So . . . having said all that . . . you can change up this recipe by using a different canned fruit like apple.  If it makes you feel better to make your scratch biscuits, knock yourself out!  It is a guide . . .

Thank you to Betty Crocker for providing these convenience foods and showing us how to use them  :)

Ingredients

1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling

1 cup Original Bisquick™ mix

1/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened


Directions

Spread pie filling in ungreased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Place in cold oven and heat to 400ºF and let heat 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven.

While pie filling is heating . . . stir remaining ingredients until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls onto warm pie filling. Sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until topping is light brown.

Photo and recipe source

Easy Stromboli

Yum!!!  Looks delicious . . . great as a main meal or appetizer.

This is a fast and easy recipe that comes from Pillsbury and utilizes convenience foods to make it easy enough for a beginner.

One of the things I would change is the addition of italian sausage and mushrooms.  The beauty of this recipe is versatility . . . use it as a guide and add what your family loves.  

You can use your own pizza dough, use leftover spaghetti sauce, make a delicious ham and cheese stromboli . . . you get the idea!

Ingredients

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1 (13.8-oz.) can Pillsbury™ refrigerated classic pizza crust

1/4 cup pizza sauce

4 oz. (1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese 

1/4 cup chopped green and/or red bell pepper, if desired

1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning



Directions

Heat oven to 400°F.

Unroll dough and place on sprayed cookie sheet.

Press out dough with hands to form a 12x8-inch rectangle.

Spread sauce over dough (within 2 inches of long sides and 1/2 inch of short sides).

Place cooked ground beef lengthwise down center, forming 3-inch-wide strip (within 1/2 inch of short sides).

Top with cheese, bell pepper and Italian seasoning. 

Fold sides of dough over filling and press edges to seal.

Bake at 400°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Photo and recipe source

Raspberry-Lemonade Cake

This cake looks and sounds delicious and uses the best of convenience foods to make it quick and easy to prepare.

Love the idea of a poke cake and the addition of frosting and Cool Whip . . . can't wait to try this!

This recipe and photo comes from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients

1 cup very hot water

1 box (4-serving size) Jell-O™ raspberry-flavored gelatin

1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ white cake mix

1/2 cup frozen (thawed) lemonade concentrate

1/4 cup water 

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 egg whites

1 container Betty Crocker™ Whipped vanilla frosting

1 cup Cool Whip™ frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, if desired

Lemon peel strips, if desired



Directions

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). 

Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour. 

Mix hot water and gelatin until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Cool slightly.

Beat cake mix, 1/4 cup of the gelatin mixture, 1/4 cup of the lemonade concentrate, the water, oil and egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes. Pour into pan. 

Reserve remaining gelatin mixture and lemonade concentrate.

Bake 25 to 31 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Poke warm cake every inch with fork tines. Remove 1 tablespoon of the reserved gelatin mixture to microwavable small bowl.  In another bowl, mix remaining gelatin mixture and remaining 1/4 cup lemonade concentrate and pour slowly over cake. 

Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Fold together frosting and whipped topping.  Frost cake. 

Microwave 1 tablespoon gelatin mixture uncovered on High 10 seconds to liquefy. Place small drops of gelatin mixture over frosting; with spoon or toothpick, swirl gelatin into frosting. 

Garnish each piece with raspberries and lemon peel strips. 

Store covered in refrigerator.

Source:  Betty Crocker.com

Italian Chicken Braid

Doesn't it look delicious?  Great for a meal or appetizer, brought to you by the Pillsbury kitchens.

Quick, easy and delicious is what I love about this recipe.  It is also a starting point recipe with lots of room for versatility.  I would love to include fresh mushrooms.  

A great recipe for beginners in the kitchen who want to impress their guests.

Ingredients

• 1 box (8 oz) Green Giant™ Simply Steam™ frozen garden vegetable medley
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast 
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese 
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 
• 2 cans Pillsbury™ refrigerated Crescent Dough Sheet 
• 1 egg white, beaten

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. 

Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

Microwave frozen vegetables using directions from the box, 2 to 3 minutes to thaw.

Mix vegetables, chicken, Parmesan and mascarpone cheeses in large bowl; stir in Italian seasoning.

• Unroll both dough sheets on the cookie sheet, overlapping long sides to make 15x13-inch rectangle and press seam to seal. 
• Spoon chicken mixture in the center center of the rectangle in 6-inch-wide strip. 
• Make cuts 1 inch apart on each long side of rectangle to within 1/2 inch of filling. 
• Fold strips of dough diagonally over filling, alternating from side to side and pressing to seal. 
• Brush with beaten egg white.

Bake 22 to 28 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes.

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Photo and recipe source

Spinach and Ravioli Lasagne

Would you believe this is a 30-minute meal?

The Pillsbury kitchens have developed this awesome recipe that is so quick and easy, even beginner cooks will appear to be experienced in the kitchen and impress their dinner guests.  Add a salad and a crusty loaf of bread and you are good to go!

One of my favorite convenience foods is frozen ravioli.  We always keep it in the freezer for meals or snacks. Of all my favorite snacks and/or quick meals, frozen ravioli pan fried with butter and garlic is one of my favorites.  Simple and easy.  You must try them if you haven't yet.

Everyone seems to love italian pasta meals . . . try this one today.  It is a versatile recipe, so add your own spin . . . like adding italian sauce, which is what I am going to try out.  Happy cooking!

Ingredients

1 bag (6 oz) fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped

1/3 cup refrigerated basil pesto 

1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce

1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 package (25 oz) frozen cheese-filled ravioli (do not thaw)

1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (4 oz)

Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired

Paprika, if desired



Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Toss spinach and pesto in a medium bowl. 

Mix Alfredo sauce and broth in another bowl. 

Add one-third of sauce mixture (about 1/2 cup) into baking dish and top with half of spinach mixture. 

Add half of ravioli in single layer over spinach mixture. 

Repeat layers. 

Top with remaining sauce mixture.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. 

Sprinkle with cheese. 

Bake 5 minutes longer or until bubbly. 

Garnish with basil and paprika.

http://www.pillsbury.com