Mini Spinach and Cottage Cheese Pies

Nado2003's Note:

I morphed Spinach Ricotta Pie Spinach Ricotta Pie with a Hint of Feta to make individual size pies for my kids to take to school lunches. I prefer them without the tortilla crust, but the kids and my husband like the crust. I accidentally forgot to grease the ramekins, but they did not stick, so now I do not grease my ramekins.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8-12

Yield: 16.0 muffins

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 large onion , finely chopped
• 1 lb spinach , washed, thorough dried and slice thinly
• 1 lb fat-free cottage cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• ½ cup feta cheese , crumbled (optional)
• salt and pepper , to taste
• tortilla (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat oil in heavy pot over medium high heat.
3. Saute onion and garlic until onion is starting to turn yellow, not quite brown.
4. Add spinach in batches and saute until wilted.
5. In bowl, beat cottage cheese, eggs, oregano, salt and pepper if using, together.
6. Add spinach mixture and mix thoroughly.
7. Spoon batter into muffin tin, fill 3/4 full - I use paper cupcake liners. This makes about 16 to 18 muffins. I just use my dozen cupcake pan, and then put the leftover mix into small ramekin cups.
8. Variation: grease the muffin tin, then cut flour tortillas (use a flattened out cupcake liner as a template) into rounds, carefully push the tortillas into greased muffin cups, fold over excess tortilla from the side. Fill 3/4 full with mixture.
9. Top each muffin with heaping teaspoon of crumbled feta.
10. Bake until top starts to brown, about 30 minutes (without tortilla) or increase time to about 35 to 40 minutes with tortilla.

Reviews

[FLKeysJen]

Wonderful portable quiches! My muffin tin's pretty deep so this recipe made 12 mini pies for me. They're very moist and I thought delicious-my husband said it tasted too healthy for him. (If I added turkey sausage and used the tortillas he'd probably love them.) Instead of oregano I used one tablespoon chopped fresh dill and one teaspoon ground nutmeg. I like that they didn't stick to the pan but may try 1-2 more eggs (or whites) to get a firmer consistency. Squeezing the fluid out of the spinach after sauteeing would help too. Will make again!