Mini Sausage Quiche Appetizers

Kittencalskitchen's Note:

For ease you may use purchased miniature frozen tart shells, spicy Italian sausage works the best for this, if using mild sausage I recommend to add in the cayenne pepper --- these are very good!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 36

• 1 cup butter, softened (can use margarine)
• 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING

• 6 ounces bulk Italian sausage (such as Jimmy Dean's, use mild or spicy)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (use only if using milk sausage)
• 1/2-3/4 cup finely shredded swiss cheese (or as needed)
• 1 large green onion, minced (or use 2 tablespoons minced chives)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or as needed)

Directions:

1. Lightly grease 36 miniature muffin tins.
2. In a bowl beat butter with cream cheese and flour until smooth.
3. Shape tablespoons of dough into balls.
4. Press 1 ball into the bottom and up the sides of each greased muffin cup.
5. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tins until ready to fill.
6. In a skillet cook the sausage meat until no longer pink; drain fat and cool slightly.
7. Divide the sausage meat into each prepared dough/muffin tin.
8. Sprinkle a small amount of Swiss cheese over the top of the sausage meat then some green onions over the cheese.
9. In a bowl whisk the eggs with cream and black pepper.
10. Pour the egg mixture into each shell then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
11. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until browned.

Reviews

[little_wing]

I had great success with this recipe! The crust was fabulous! Very easy to mix up and to handle and came out with a nice buttery, rich, flaky texture. I used regular muffin pans because I was pressed for time and baked for about 28 minutes. I used the custard proportion but did vary the fillings with what I had on hand. This will be my go-to recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!

[FloridaNative]

These little quiches are wonderful. Loved the combo of swiss and parmesan cheeses. I added about 1/2 small onion finely diced, cooked in with the sausage. DELICIOUS !! I'll be making these again for our appetizer tray at Christmas. Thanks Kittencal for a great recipe. Made for Cookathon for Kittencal, Dec 2008.

[un petit chou]

Gorgeous little appetizers!! I served these at a spa party I hosted; everyone loved them and asked for the recipe. I made the dough two days in advance. I assembled the filling minus the eggs and rolled balls of dough the day before my party. That way on the day of the party I just had to fit the dough to the tins and fill them! They require some effort but it's worth it! Very yummy. Thank you.