Light as a feather but bursting with the flavours of sweet and slightly nutty Red Leicester cheese, salty, creamy feta cheese, the intense and deep flavours of semi-dried tomatoes, sweet basil and Kalamata olives, these vegetarian muffins are ideal for breakfast, brunch, a light lunch, a picnic or a quick snack on the go.
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 200°C /220°C/425°F/Gas 7
Additional ingredients: grate the Red Leicester cheese and chop the feta cheese into small cubes. Chop the tomatoes, slice the olives, toast the pinenuts, if necessary, and shred the basil.
Wet ingredients: melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave. Allow to cool a little.
Add the vinegar to the milk – it will curdle. It is supposed to do this!
Add the milk and vinegar to the butter, mix well and beat in the egg.
Dry Ingredients: put a sieve over your mixing bowl and weigh in the dry ingredients. Shake through the sieve. (The black pepper may not go through the sieve - just tip into your mixture!)
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix lightly – until around 80% combined.
Now add the Red Leicester cheese, feta cheese, semi-dried tomatoes, olives, pinenuts and olives and fold in carefully; be careful not to over-mix at this stage
Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, divide the batter equally between the muffin cases. Top with extra slices of olives.
Put into the oven on the middle shelf for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, turn the oven down to Fan Oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and cook for a further 15 - 20 minutes or until cooked.
Remove from the oven when cooked, leave to sit for 5 – 10 minutes and then transfer the muffins to a wire cooling rack.
Delicious with butter. Eat warm or at room temperature.
Equipment:
Toasted Pinenuts:
See here for more information on toasted pinenuts
Semi-dried Tomatoes:
You can use store bought or home made semi-dried tomatoes, (See here for homemade recipe.)
Storage:
In the fridge: these muffins are best eaten on the day they are made. However, they will store well in an airtight container for 2 -3 days in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature or warm in the microwave or the oven before eating.
In the freezer: these muffins freeze well in an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months.