Vol au Vents

I decided to try making Vol au Vents a couple of weeks ago when we held a high tea for one of my work colleagues who is leaving us this year.  Vol au Vents look fancy, but are actually really simple to make.  I written the recipes for the fillings I used, but you don’t need to be super exact with these – make the fillings to a taste that you are happy with.  To start with you will need to make some pastry cases, which look impressive but are actually really simple.

Pastry Cases (makes about 30)
Ingredients:
1 pack of flaky puff pastry (I used 750g 5 sheet Edmonds pack)
1 egg

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Let the pastry defrost slightly – you still want it to be very cold when you work with it.
You will need two round cookie cutters (-or similar: I used a tea cup and a round plastic tube!); one that is about a 1cm bigger than the other (my little teacup was 6cm in diameter and the small plastic tube was 3cm).
Using the larger cutter, cut out rounds from the pastry sheets.
Using the smaller cutter, cut rounds out of the centre of half of the big pastry circles you just cut out.

Whisk up the egg with a few drops of water.
Brush the egg wash around the edges of the complete, larger, circles of pastry.
Layer a ring of pastry on top of the complete pastry circle, and gently place the cut out centre back on top (see image above).
Gently brush the top with more egg wash, being careful not to get egg on the sides of the pastry as this will limit the extent the pastry will puff up when cooked.
Bake the pastry for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. 
Carefully pick the pastry centres off the cases (yes, I was a piggy and ate all the unwanted pastry centres!).

You can fill your cases with whatever takes your fancy – there are lots of recipes about, just google ‘Vol au Vent fillings’.  I decided to make a ‘cheats’ chicken filling and a ham and egg option.  Feel free to tweak the following recipes to suit your tastes.  Any left over filling mixture makes a great sandwich spread.  Also, if desired, the Vol au Vents can be placed in a heated oven for a further 5 minutes to warm the fillings before serving.

‘Cheats’ chicken filling
Ingredients:
1 x 160g can of shredded Chop Chop chicken (I used the wholegrain mustard flavour)
3 leaves of basil
4 semi dried tomatoes
5 black olives

Method:
Finely cut the basil, tomatoes and olives up.  In a small bowl, miss together all the ingredients.  Spoon into the prepared Vol au Vent cases.

Ham and egg filling
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
100g shaved ham, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Hard boil the eggs (place in a pot of water and boil for 10 – 12 minutes).  Once the eggs have cooled, peel them and place in a small bowl.
Add the mayonnaise to the eggs.  Mash the eggs with a fork until the eggs are a broken into fine pieces, mixing in more mayonnaise if needed.
Mix in the ham and fresh parsley.  Taste the mixture, adding more of the ingredients listed if desired, and seasoning with salt and pepper. 
Spoon into the prepared Vol au Vent cases.

Sarah’s Soda Bread

Simon and I share our house with our flatmate Sarah, who is from Ireland.  She had a pang of homesickness the other week and was craving the comforts of home, so she wanted some Soda Bread.  I’d never heard of Soda Bread before, but offered to make it for her and went about doing some research.  I ended up shirking the responsibility of making it off onto Simon (I’ve been really lazy when it comes to baking lately) as he loves to make bread; so he gave this a go on the weekend, excitedly assisted by Sarah.

Soda bread is really quick and easy to make.  We made ours using a ‘cake’ method, where you mix all the ingredients up and bake it in the oven.  You can also make Soda Bread by making your dough, then cutting it into ‘farls’ (a word meaning ‘four parts’) and frying each segment until it is cooked through, then piecing all the farls together to get your round bread look.  There isn’t any yeast in this bread, so you don’t need to wait around for it to prove either.

To me, Soda Bread is kind of like a massive scone.  I ate my pieces simply buttered and with jam.  However, in Ireland I think it is more a savoury thing – Sarah cooked up some eggs and ate them on the bread with HP sauce and I’ve also read about it being something you can serve with stew to soak up the gravy.  It was pretty yum; we’ll be making some again and I think we will give some other Irish baking a go soon.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a large bowl, stir the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add 1 cup of the buttermilk.  Combine dry ingredients and buttermilk with a fork, gradually adding more of the remaining buttermilk until a soft dough is formed.
Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface for 1 minute.  Form into a slightly flattened circle. Place the dough on the prepared tray.  Mark a large 2cm deep ‘X’ with a sharp knife and bake the soda bread for 35-45 minutes. The bread is ready when it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Once the bread is cooked, remove from the oven.  To serve, but into segments, then cut the segments in half horizontally before topping with whatever you fancy.

Individual Summer Vegetable Tarts

I made these last week to take along to a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  We all have quite the sweet tooth so I thought something savoury would go down well to combat all the sugar we would be eating (check out the sweet Berry Tarts I made for the catch up too).
I made these Summer Vegetable Tarts from scratch, baking my own pastry cases, but you could easily buy some pre-made from the supermarket which would make these really quick and easy to whip up.  Also, feel free to change up the vegetable mix to include your favourites or what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
1 ⅓  cups flour
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice cold water

Vegetable filling:
1 bunch asparagus
1 kumara, chopped into chunks
½ pumpkin, chopped into chunks
12 cherry tomatoes
4 – 6 Portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
salt
pepper
200g haloumi cheese
25g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
12 small sprigs of rosemary

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the egg with a tablespoon of water.  Add the egg to the flour mixture, pulsing again until just combined, adding the extra water if needed to bring the pastry together to forma soft dough.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 2mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork.
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place the vegetables (kumara, pumpkin, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms) in a couple of roasting trays, coat the vegetables in the oil, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until tender. 
While the vegetables are roasting, cut the haloumi into slices, about 0.5cm thick and fry in a frying pan until lightly golden on both sides.
Once the vegetables been roasted and taken out of the oven to cool slightly, cut the vegetables (excluding the tomatoes) into small, little chunks (0.5cm pieces).  Crumb the feta cheese and mix it together with the roasted vegetables.
Place a piece of haloumi in the bottom of each pastry case.  Top with the roasted vegetable mix.
Beat together the egg and water.  Brush the egg wash over the vegetables in the tart cases.  Bake for a further 10 minutes.  Once out of the oven, top each tart with a sprig of rosemary and a cherry tomato.

Kumara and Bacon Mini Muffins

I made these Kumara and Bacon Mini Muffins a few weeks ago when we had a long weekend.  We were away with my parents ‘up North’ and I wanted something that I could snack on when I was feeling peckish.  Mum usually has chips and dip, along with crackers and cheese on hand, which I wanted to avoid.
The muffins had a nice savoury flavour to them and were delicious heated a little with a smear of butter (yeah, I could’ve just eaten the chips and dip).  I think they would also make a great snack to take to work or school in the lunchbox.  Mum reckoned they would be great made in a jumbo muffin tin (cooking times would differ) with a green salad for a lunch or light dinner.  Keep this recipe in mind for after Christmas too – you could swap out the bacon for leftover ham.

Makes 24.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups self raising flour
½ teaspoon rubbed parsley
½ teaspoon sweet basil
½ teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup grated cheese
2 – 4 rashers bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
1 cup milk
1 egg
30g butter, melted
1 cup mashed kumara (I used orange kumara, but whatever variety is your fave will be fine)
¼ cup sunflower seeds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Grease 2 x 12 hole mini muffin trays.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, parsley, basil, curry powder, sugar, salt, cheese and bacon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and butter.  Add the whisked mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the mashed kumara.  Mix together until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin holes and sprinkle the sunflower seeds over the top.  Bake for 10 –12 minutes or until golden.

Cheese and Bacon Pull Apart Loaf

When I was younger I lived within walking distance of a ‘Baker’s Delight’, my favourite thing to buy was their cheese and bacon pull apart loaf. Last weekend I decided to try and whip one up myself, I used the same method as my Cinnamon Pull Apart Loaf but tried a more savoury dough recipe.  I love the cheese and bacon combo but you could change it up with other savoury fillings or add something like chives if you have them on hand.

Ingredients:
Dough:
1½ teaspoons dry active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
¼ cup warm milk
1 large egg, whisked
½ teaspoon salt
50g butter, soft cut into cubes
1½ -1¾ cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
250 grams crispy bacon, crumpled into small pieces
25 grams garlic butter, melted

Method:
In the bowl of your mixer stir together the water, yeast and sugar. Leave it for a few minutes until the yeast dissolves and starts to bubble. Then stir in the milk, egg and salt.
Then add the flour and softened butter and combine using your dough hook, this could be done by hand with a wooden spoon as this is quite a soft dough. Let the dough hook knead the dough or knead it vigorously with your hand for a few minutes in the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, knead in a bit more flour by the tablespoon. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside somewhere warm to rise for about 90 minutes, it will double in size.
Grease your loaf tin with butter and set aside. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out your dough, it should be roughly 20cmx40cm. Use a pastry brush to spread melted garlic butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with the cheese and bacon.
Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book – you can check out pictures here.
At this stage you can cover your loaf with glad wrap and place it the fridge overnight, you can then remove it the next morning and set it aside for 30-45 minutes for a second rise while you pre-heat your oven to 180°C, or if you want to bake it the same day you can give it it’s second rise straight away and then place it in your preheated oven to bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden and it is cooked through.
After cooking set it aside for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and removing it to serve warm.

Cheese and Carrot Crackers

These crackers kind of remind me of some thing my friend Anjana’s Mum bakes.  She’s Indian and my group of friends used to love it when Anjana brought in her Mum’s baking to share with us at school.  I have no idea what any of the things she made were called though, and I think her Mum sometimes reads this blog, so now I am a bit embarrassed.  These might not be anything like her baking and I might be making a fool of myself with my rambling.

Right, moving on.  These crackers are packed with carrot, but you actually can’t tell.  The are soft crackers too, which seems a bit strange at first because they look crunchy, so they aren’t what you are expecting.  However, they are quite addictive.  We had friends over the night I made them and everyone kept reaching for another one to munch on.

Makes about 90 crackers.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon dried mustard
125g butter
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 cup finely grated carrot (about 2 carrots)
¾ cup grated tasty cheese
1 egg yolk

Method:
Place the flour and mustard into a large bowl.  Rub in the butter, pinching it with the flour until it resembles a fine breadcrumb.  Stir in the seeds, carrot, cheese and egg yolk.  Mix until a firm dough has formed.
Knead thee dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth.  Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Prepare some baking trays by lining them with baking paper.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 3mm thick.  Using cookie cutters, cut shapes out of the dough and place about 2cm apart on the prepared trays.  Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Leave to cool completely on the trays before serving.

Pizza Muffins

These are yum.  And pretty healthy for baking too.  I like the pineapple in them.  Simon loved them too and we both enjoyed taking them to work as snacks to have at morning tea.

Ingredients:
2 – 3 rashers of bacon, cooked, rind removed
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup milk
3 teaspoons tomato sauce
1 egg, beaten
100g butter, melted
225g can pineapple pieces in juice, drained

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Grease or line a 12 muffin tin.
Cook the bacon, remove the rind, then cut into small pieces.  Set the bacon aside.
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients, including the cheese.
Roughly chop up the pineapple pieces.  In a medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, including the pineapple and bacon.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix lightly until combined. 
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the muffins are lightly golden.  Leave to cool in the pan for five minutes before leaving them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Olive, Spinach + Pine Nut Tart

This Olive, Spinach and Pine nut Tart is great with a salad and chutney.  It can be served hot cold, and travels well so it is good for a picnic.  I think this is one for true olive fans as the olives give the tart a real salty kick.  I loved it, but David (Simon’s brother) was not as enthusiastic – I ate the rest before Simon could try it!

I find photographing rectangular shaped food hard as we usually use landscape photographs on our blog and I find it hard to get the composition right.  The funny thing about editing the pictures for this post was that I noticed the subject matter kept becoming less and less as I kept playing around with more ideas, cutting pieces of the tart off and eating them.

Ingredients:
2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
200g baby spinach leaves
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives (my fave!)
125g cream cheese, cubed or broken into chunks
4 eggs
½ cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Line a 33 x 9 cm lose based tart tin with the pastry.  Trim off any excess pastry and prick the bottom all over with a fork.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until lightly golden.  Set aside to cool.  Drop the oven temperature down to 160°C.
In a frying pan, stir the spinach and olives over a medium heat for 1 – 2 minutes or until the spinach has just wilted.  Cool slightly.
Spoon the spinach mixture over the base of the pastry.  Layer the chunks of cream cheese over the top.  Whisk together the eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and pour over the top.  Sprinkle the pine nuts over the top.  Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes or until set.

French Potato Tart

We had an amazing Christmas last year! Shane, Max and I ended up hosting my Mum and sisters at our house for a delicious lunch, my sister Meredith did an amazing ham and I did desserts and side dishes. One of the side dishes was this potato tart, it was inspired by a recipe in the Christmas edition of Food Magazine – Meredith and I had a great time scouring magazines for food ideas. I changed it up a bit to suit our tastes and it was a hit, easy and delicious! It is the perfect addition to your table next time you are entertaining guests.

Ingredients:
2 sheets flaky puff pastry, thawed
1 egg lightly beaten
2-3 medium-large sized potatoes, thinly sliced
150 grams of spreadable cream cheese
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely cut
1/2 cup grated cheese
A drizzle of olive oil
shavings of parmesan to sprinkle on top
salt and pepper to season

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with wax paper.
Place pastry sheets on top, overlapping each other in the middle , seal with beaten egg. Fold all sides in 1cm and brush with egg and press with a fork to seal. Prick the base all over with a fork and press the fork, this will stop the pastry from rising.
Spread the cream cheese all over the base, sprinkle with half the rosemary and salt and pepper.
Place potatoes in a single layer so that they just overlap. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the grated cheese and remaining rosemary, season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden and the potatoes are cooked.
To serve cut into 8 large squares and sprinkle shaving of parmesan.

Mini Spinach and Feta Pinwheels

I really like these Mini Spinach and Feta Pinwheels.  I’ve made them a few times now and they are quick and easy to make.  I made a batch for our picnic just in case we needed more food; we didn’t, but I also don’t recall having any of these leftover.  I’ll be making more Spinach and Feta Pinwheels during the year to take to work as my morning tea snacks.

Makes about 30.

Ingredients:
250g frozen spinach, thawed
100g feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg

Method:
Preheat the oven to 220°C.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Squeeze out the excess moisture from the spinach, and chop it up roughly.  Spread the spinach over the pastry sheets.  Combine the cheeses, then sprinkle over the pastry sheets.
Roll the pastry up to enclose the filling.  Cut into 1 cm sections and place them on the prepare baking trays.
Lightly whisk the egg.  Brush the sides and top of each pinwheel with the egg. Bake the pinwheels for 15 – 20 minutes or until a light golden brown colour.

Pork and Apple Sausage Rolls

These are delicious and so simple! Perfect for a summer picnic which is exactly what I made them for, these were my savoury contribution to our High Tea Picnic. I loved them and everyone else seemed to enjoy them as well. They are definitely on my ‘must make again soon’ list.

Ingredients:
6 Italian pork sausages (500 grams or there about)
400 grams pork mince
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 granny smith apple, grated
1 tablespoon curly parsley, finely chopped
4 sheets pre-rolled flaky puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
Using your hands, squeeze excess moisture from apple. Lay on paper towels and set aside to ensure as much moisture as possible is removed.
Cut sausage casings. Squeeze sausage meat into a large bowl (discarding the casing).
Add pork mince, caraway seeds and parsley to the sausage meat.
Add apple to mince mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
Place pastry sheets on your work surface and cut in half horizontally.
Spoon approximately one eighth of the mince mixture along one long edge of each pastry piece.
Brush the pastry edges with egg and roll up tightly to enclose filling. Cut each roll into quarters. Brush tops with egg (at this stage you could score the pastry to create a pattern or sprinkle with sesame seeds or similar). 
Place rolls, seam side down, on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining pastry, mince mixture and egg.
Bake sausage rolls for 20 minutes or until golden.

Beautiful serving plate c/o The Vintage Table

Mini Mince and Cheese Pies

For our High Tea Picnic we each decided to bring something sweet and something savoury.  For my savoury option I had a go at making little mince and cheese pies.  There were a lot easier than I thought they would be too!  These pies are a great idea for a picnic, something different for lunch or individual dinners.  I made 10 mini pies for our picnic and used up the remaining mince mixture by making larger pies for dinner using some ramekins (see picture below).  For my smaller pies, I used some cute little tins, but I have written the recipe below so that you can make them just using a muffin tin.  If you want to make your pies so they stand on their own out of the tins for a while, you may want to change the pastry base to a shortcrust pastry and pre-bake it before putting the filling in, or you could make some pastry from the recipe I used to make Pork Pies out of.  I would still top them with puff pastry to give them a nice flaky pastry lid.

Makes at least 20 small savoury pies, or 8 ramekin sized pies.

Ingredients:
500g mince
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely grated
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
2 cups beef stock
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
5 – 7 sheets puff pastry
Colby cheese, thinly sliced (enough to cover the top of each pie)
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
In a frying pan over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.  Add the mince and carrot, frying until the mince is browned.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, flour, mixed herbs, stock, tomato sauce and salt and pepper, and stir through the mince.  Reduce the frying pan to a low heat and cook the mince mixture, simmering, for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove the mince from the frying pan and leave to cool (you can refrigerate it if you want).
Preheat the oven to 200°C. 
Grease 20 muffin tin holes (or 8 cup-sized ramekins) with butter and line each with pastry. Cut  circles out of the pastry, big enough to cover each pie.
Spoon the mince mixture into each pie case and top with slices of cheese.  Add the pie tops over each pie and sea around the edges using a fork.  Whisk the egg and milk together and brush over each pie top.  Using a knife, pierce a hole into the top of each pie.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Lunchbox Bakes - Empanadas

Here’s something a little bit different to try. These Empanadas made a great afternoon snack / pre dinner nibble in my house!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
½ cup marinated chargrilled capsicum, drained, chopped
125g corn kernels (defrost first if using frozen ones)
¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped (you can use kidney beans if you prefer)
1 cup grated tasty cheese
2 cups plain flour
40g butter, melted
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
Lemon wedges, to serve

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place two eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes before draining them and refreshing under cold water. Peel the egg shells off and chop up the eggs.

Combine the egg, capsicum, corn, olives and cheese in a medium sized bowl. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl.

Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the butter, ½ a cup of cold water, whisked egg and vinegar into the swell. Whisk together with the flour using a fork. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth dough (check out our Pizza Making video to see how to do this). Roll out to form a 45 x 35 cm rectangle.

Using an 8cm round pastry cutter, cut the dough into circles. Top each pastry circle with a tablespoon of the filling. Fold the circle in half over the mixture, then use a fork to press the edges together. Place on the prepared baking tray.

Brush the tops of the empanadas with milk. Sprinkle the cumin seeds over the top. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Serve the empanadas with lemon wedges.

For more delicious lunchbox bakes recipes and to find out how you can participate in this feature, check out our Lunchbox Bakes page.

Lunchbox Bakes - Halloween Sausage Mummies

These are super easy to make and make a delicious treat for the lunch box or as a snack.

12 precooked sausages (I used Smoked Cheese Kranskys)
2 sheets puff pastry
1 teaspoon mustard

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.  Cut the pastry into thin strips, about 5mm thick.  Wrap strips of the pastry around the sausages like a bandage (brush the strip with some ice cold water if it is not sticking very well).  If the strip is not long enough for the sausage, start using another piece.  Place on the prepared baking tray.
Bake 15 – 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden.  Use the mustard to dot eyes onto the sausages before serving.

For more lunchbox baking ideas check out our Lunchbox Bakes page.

Lunchbox Bakes - Pumpkin + Spinach Bread Cases

1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ small onion, finely chopped
150g butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced
25g spinach
12 slices wholemeal bread
1 ½ eggs, whisked
¼ cup reduced fat milk
60g ricotta cheese, crumbled
Olive oil spray

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat.  Add the onion.  Cook while stirring for 3 minutes, or until softened.  Add the pumpkin.  Cook for 5 minutes or until it is tender.  Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes or until it is wilted.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, using a rolling pin, flatten out the pieces of bread on a flat surface.  Using a 7.5cm cutter (or the rim of a glass), cut out a round from each piece of bread.  Press each piece of bread into a hole of a 12 hole muffin tin.  Lightly spray the bread with oil.  bake for 5 –6 minutes or until just golden.  Remove from oven.
Whisk the egg together with the milk.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon the pumpkin and spinach mixture between the bread cases.  Top with the ricotta.  Pour over the egg mixture.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and set.

Lunchbox Bakes - Bacon, Cheese and Chive Muffins

These savoury muffins are perfect for brunch/lunch. I whipped up a batch in no time and they are delicious! This recipe makes 6 good size muffins so if you are serving a larger crowd and you want to make a dozen you will need to double it.

Ingredients:
4 rashers of streaky bacon
30 grams butter
2 tablespoon fresh chives, finely cut
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
1½ teaspoons sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C, spray or line your muffin tin with papers.
Fry bacon until it is well cooked and slightly crispy, set aside to cool.
Melt butter and set aside.
Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a fork so you can ‘fluff’ it up. Make a well in the centre of the bowl.
Place egg and milk in a small bowl and whisk.
Pour egg and milk mix and butter and chives into the well in your dry mix and combine using a wooden spoon.
Add cheese and bacon and mix with your spoon so that it is distributed evenly.
Place even scoops of mixture in your muffin tins (you can top with a little bit a grated cheese if you wish) and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a skewer can be removed cleanly.
Once cooked remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

For more healthy recipes and lunch ideas check out our Lunchbox Bakes page!

Lunchbox Bakes - Sundried Tomato + Cream Cheese Muffins

This is a nice recipe for savoury muffins which have a little bit of cream cheese and tomato hidden inside.  Delicious.  The muffins are alright to freeze too.
When working with sundried tomatoes I like to use an oil free variety; I like the flavour better and they aren’t as chewy.

3 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 cup milk
75g butter, melted
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Filling:
125g sundried tomato cream cheese
or
115g cream cheese mixed with 5-6 chopped sundried tomatoes

Topping:
3-4 sundried tomatoes, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Lightly grease a 10 hole muffin pan.
Sift the flour and baking powder together in large bowl.  Add the sugar, salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs, milk and butter together in another bowl.  Add the parsley and stir into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Place a large tablespoon of muffin mix in the base of each muffin tin.  Divide the filling mixture into 10 pieces and place on top of the muffin mix.  Cover with the remaining muffin mix and top with the chopped sundried tomatoes.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin pans.

For more healthy recipes and lunch ideas check out our Lunchbox Bakes page!