My reaction to the original recipe:

This is my second Plated meal, and I had high expectations after the wonderful pollock.  Sadly I was disappointed.  I found the empanadas bland, and only managed to eat them with the help of ranch dressing.  I’m also not a big fan of honey-mustard dressing, and Plated’s honey-mustard didn’t prove an exception, so I didn’t finish the spinach, either.

What do I have left over?

• 4 empanadas with ricotta corn filling
• 3 pieces prepared empanada dough (the recipe was for 6 empanadas, somehow I ended up with 7)
• 1 serving of spinach leaves (I threw out the serving I coated with dressing.)

What is the plan?

• The leftover empanada dough is simple — I’ll combine it with some strawberries I have in the fridge to make the fabulous Empanadas de Fresa from Sweet Life.
• I’ve frozen the remaining empanadas.  I think I’ll try putting them in a quiche this weekend.  If I add some spice — maybe a jalapeno — and some bacon they may be edible.
• The spinach leaves are the easiest leftover.  Tomorrow’s lunch will include a simple spinach salad, with Parmesan cheese, hemp seeds, and Italian dressing.

Mason Jar Empanada Quiches

This dense, flavorful quiche has an almost biscuit-like texture.  It’s great for freezing then re-heating for a quick breakfast at the office.

Equipment Needed:

• 2 canning jars, pint size
• Baking sheet
• Mixing bowl

 Ingredients:

• 1 Plated.com Ricotta Corn Empanada, frozen
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese, preferably cheddar or a Mexican blend
• 1/4 cup skim milk (or cream or half-and-half)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 – 2 slices bacon, crumbled (optional)
• 1/2 Serrano pepper
• 1 – 2 tablespoons butter, cooking spray or oil

COOK ‘EM

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generally when making quiche in I remove my oven’s center rack, and place the quiche on the lower rack.  This gives the quiche plenty of room to develop its “head,” and ensures the head won’t collide with the rack above, necessitating removing and cleaning the rack.
2. Grease 2 pint-size canning jars using butter, cooking spray, or oil.  I chose Bell’s wide-mouth jars as the wide mouth makes cleanup easier.
3. Dice the frozen empanada into 1/2 inch or smaller pieces. Dice the Serrano pepper into very fine pieces.
4. Crack eggs into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
5. Add milk and beat with a spoon or whisk until well mixed.
6. Add cheese, empanada, optional bacon, Serrano pepper, black pepper, and salt to the egg mix, stirring until well incorporated.
7. Ladle mixture into canning jars.  The heavier pieces in the mix sink to the bottom, so it’s important to pour a bit into one jar, then a bit into the other.  This will prevent one jar getting all the “good stuff.”  If using pint-size jars, you’ll want to pour 1/2 of the mixture into each canning jar (about a cup per jar).
8. Place jars on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil (in case of spillage) and place in the oven for 35 – 45 minutes.
9. When the quiches have a good golden-brown head, remove from oven and allow to cool.  Don’t expect the body of the quiche in the jar to turn golden brown — waiting that long results in a tough quiche.

FREEZE ‘EM

1. After removing from the oven, cover the jars with a dish cloth and allow to cool for approx. 45 minutes.  For safety reasons, do not allow quiche to stand at room temperature for over an hour.
2. The quiches will still be warm.  This is OK.  Place the jars in the freezer and allow them to continue cooling.
3. Once the jars are no longer warm, place canning lids on the jars.
4. Leave jars in the freezer until frozen (I usually give them at least twelve hours.)

REHEAT ‘EM

1. Remove the canning lid from the quiche.
2. Place the quiche on a microwave-safe plate.
3. Microwave the plate and the quiche until hot.  Microwaves vary, so it is a good idea to check your quiche every 60 seconds.  My home microwave needs 2 minutes, but the microwave in my office only needs 90 seconds.
4. Carefully remove plate and quiche.  The plate may hold liquid that has bubbled out of the quiche.  (This is an excellent reason to use half-filled pint jars — they’re less likely to bubble over.)
5. Enjoy!