Mini crustless quiches loaded with Italian sausage flavored tempeh with hot and spicy giardiniera and cherry tomatoes, perfect for a healthy delicious breakfast.
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small white onion, diced finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz package tempeh
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tbsp italian seasoning
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp marinara sauce or plain tomato sauce
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp high heat cooking oil (see notes)
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup hot cherry peppers or giardianara
¼ cup almond milk
12 eggs, whisked
fresh basil (optional)
¼ cup parmesan cheese* (optional)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large, preferably cast iron, skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Add the tempeh to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to get it broken up. Add the saute'd onions and garlic, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast, marinara sauce, white pepper, rubbed sage and sea salt and pulse until smooth.
Add the high heat cooking oil to the same skillet where you saute'd the onions and garlic. Transfer the tempeh mixture into a large bowl and oil your hand. Using you hand, school the mixture out about a ⅓ cup at a time and flatten it into patties. Drop the patties into the oil and cook until they're browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes on each side.
Once the patties are browned on both sides, they will have hardened slightly, start breaking off corners of each patty with your spatula and continue breaking it up until it forms a crumbled texture in the pan. Add the soy sauce or tamari and dijon mustard to the mixture and continue stirring and breaking it up with the spatula. Cook for about 5 more minutes until the soy sauce has evaporated and the tempeh should be a dark color and resemble either ground meat or crumbled sausage pieces.
Transfer the sausage to a bowl and add in the cherry tomatoes and giardianara or hot cherry peppers and toss to slightly combine.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and almond milk and some pieces of fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese if you're using that.
Grease a muffin tin with oil, butter or spray. Add the tempeh, tomatoes and peppers mixture into each muffin cup, 1-2 tablespoons in each depending on how stuffed you want the quiches to be. Then pour the egg mixture over the top into each muffin cup filling almost to the top.
Carefully (so as not to spill any eggs) transfer the muffin pan to the oven and baking for 25 minutes. To tell if their cooked, you can poke the tops and they should bounce back at you and not be liquid. Serve right away or they'll keep in your fridge for a week and are reheated very easily.
Recipe by Almost Like Mom's at https://www.almostlikemoms.com/spicy-italian-mini-quiches/