Leek & Bacon Mini Quiche

First make your pastry. Add the flour to a large bowl and cut in the cold butter. Start mixing it with your hands until it reaches a fine bread crumb type mixture. Shake the bowl to bring the larger lumps to the surface. Then continue incorporating them into the mixture until it is all small and crumbly. Next, add your two tablespoons of cold water and stir together. Use your hands to form it into a pastry dough until a smooth ball appears. Turn the pastry out onto a floured surface and roll it out to about an 8-9 inch rough circle. Once you have done this get a 3 inch circle cookie cutter and cut out 12 pastry circles.

Grease and line (if you like) 12 muffin tins. Place each pasty in a muffin tin and gently press it down and up the sides. It will only go up the sides a little bit. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

While the pastry is chilling, make your filling. So, in a medium sized skillet add the olive oil and leeks. Cook over a high heat for a few minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for a further 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat.

Whisk the eggs and add the cream, salt and pepper. Whisk for a further minute or so.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the pastry casings from the fridge. Add a generous spoonful of the leeks to each pastry casing. Top with bacon and cheese. Once you have done this, pour over your egg mixture. This will go above the pastry casing, but don't worry about that at all. Bake for about 7-8 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from oven and lay on top of a wire rack.

To remove the quiches from the pans,slide a knife around the edge of each quiche. Then gently use a fork to lift it out from the bottom. Lay them on the wire rack.

These can be served straight away hot, or at room temperature. You can even freeze them in an airtight container for several months. All you have to do is remove from the freezer and reheat in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. Easy!