Mini Mushroom And Goat Cheese Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the crust, put the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) of the butter into large dice, add to the bowl, and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, add the ice water all at once and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Don't overprocess. Dump the dough out on a floured board, gather it loosely into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough on a well-floured board and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable sides, rolling the pin over the top to cut off the excess dough. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil and fit it, butter side down, into the tart pan. Fill the foil with rice or beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil from the tart shell, prick the bottom all over with a fork, and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan and saute the shallots over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tender. Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the pepper and process until blended.
• Scatter the cooked shallots over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the goat cheese mixture over the shallots to fill the shell (if the shell has shrunk, there may be leftover filling). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim fennel of green top and root end, reserving fronds, and quarter bulb from top to bottom. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, cut fennel and leeks into paper-thin slices. Clean and slice mushrooms.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat; add fennel and leeks and sauté until just tender but not brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in skillet over medium-high heat; add mushrooms and sauté until they release all their liquid and most of it boils away, about 5 minutes. Combine fennel mixture with mushrooms and sauté together briefly; season with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat.
• Unfold puff pastry onto lightly floured surface; cut in half lengthwise to form two long rectangles. Gently roll out each rectangle to approximately 5 by 14 inches and place on cookie sheet (or cut into two circles, if desired). Trim edges by 1/4 inch strips all around; set strips aside. Break one egg into a small bowl; beat slightly. Brush edges of pastry with some egg. Use trimmed strips to make a raised border on each. (Or, fold pastry edges over to form a rim.) Brush entire surface with remaining beaten egg. Prick interior of pastry all over with a fork. Bake until pale gold, about 10 minutes. If pastry has puffed up inside edge, press it down gently. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine remaining eggs with 6 ounces goat cheese and blend until smooth. Spread onto pastry. Return to oven and bake just until set, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven and spread with mushroom-leek mixture. Crumble remaining cheese on top. Just before serving, broil tarts on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until tarts are warm and cheese softens. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Using a mandolin or super-sharp knife, cut onion into paper thin slices. Clean and slice the mushrooms.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat; add onion and saute until caramelized. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until they release all their liquid and most of it boils away, should take about 5 minutes. Combine caramelized onions with mushrooms and saute together briefly; season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from heat.
• Unfold puff pastry onto a floured surface; cut in half lengthwise to form 2 long rectangles. Gently roll out each rectangle to approximately 5 by 14 inches and place on cookie sheet. Trim edges by 1/4-inch strips all around; set strips aside. Break 1 egg into a small bowl; beat slightly. Brush edges of pastry with some of the egg. Use trimmed strips to make a raised border on each. Brush entire surface with remaining beaten egg. Prick the interior of pastry all over with a fork. Bake until pale gold, about 10 minutes. If pastry has puffed up inside edge, press it down gently. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine remaining eggs with 6 ounces goat cheese and blend until smooth. Spread the mixture onto pastry. Return to oven and bake just until set, about 4 minutes. Add the thyme to the mushroom mixture. Remove cookie sheet from oven and spread with thyme-mushroom mixture. Crumble remaining cheese on top. Just before serving, broil tarts on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until tarts are warm and cheese softens.

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft and dry, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to skillet, then shallot. Sauté until shallot is soft, about 4 minutes longer. Add nutmeg. Season mushroom filling with salt and pepper. Cool.
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out puff pastry onto lightly floured surface to 12x15-inch rectangle. Cut one 12x5-inch rectangle, two 11x1/2-inch strips and two 5x1/2-inch strips from pastry. Place rectangle on prepared baking sheet. Pierce all over with fork. Using pastry brush, brush all strips with egg. Place short strips, egg side down, atop ends of pastry to form raised crust edge; place long strips, egg side down, atop long sides of pastry. (Mushroom filling and tart shell can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake tart shell until golden, about 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature. Spread cheese evenly over bottom of hot tart shell. Top with mushrooms. Sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with cream. Bake until heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10-inch tart pan and line it with the pastry. Keep in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
• Brush the mustard over the bottom of the dough. Slice the tomatoes and arrange over the mustard in concentric circles, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the herbs.
• Beat together the eggs and goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the tomatoes. Drizzle on the olive oil. Place in the oven and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Cut thawed puff pastry into six 3- to 4-inch rounds using a cookie cutter. Roll edges of each pastry slightly to form 6 small tarts. Set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; stir in sweet onion. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking and stirring until onion is very tender and dark brown, about 40 minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and let simmer until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Divide cooked onions between the 6 tart shells and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle goat cheese evenly on top of each tart.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle each with balsamic vinegar reduction.
• Return tarts to the oven and continue to bake until cheese is bubbly and tarts are golden brown, about 8 minutes more.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit it into a 9-inch quiche dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch and fold toward center, pressing against side of dish. Chill shell until ready to use.
• In a skillet cook mushrooms with salt to taste in 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until golden and any liquid is evaporated. Spread mushrooms in shell and bake in middle of oven 20 minutes.
• While tart is baking, with back of a spoon force polenta through a coarse sieve into a bowl to break up lumps. Stir in sour cream and remaining 6 tablespoons butter until combined well. Force goat cheese through small teardrop-shaped holes of a grater and stir into polenta mixture with eggs and salt.
• Spread polenta mixture over mushrooms and sprinkle with thyme. Bake tart 35 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Cool tart on a rack until just warm.
• To make butter pastry dough:
• In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt and with a pastry blender or your fingertips blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough. On a floured work surface smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions with heel of hand to slightly develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in 1 hour. Dough may be made 1 week ahead and chilled. Makes enough dough for a single-crust 9-inch tart.
• To make basic polenta:
• In a heavy saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and gradually whisk in cornmeal in a thin stream. Cook polenta over moderately low heat (it should be barely boiling), stirring constantly, until very thick and pulls away from side of pan, about 40 minutes for cornmeal and about 15 minutes for instant polenta. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. Stir polenta just before using. Polenta will keep warm, covered, about 20 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
• Note: In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor. However, Italian-food expert Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. We believe it produces a very good polenta, one nearly as flavorful and smooth as the traditional procedure. To make satisfactory polenta in a real hurry, an imported instant polenta (precooked cornmeal) is available. This cooks in a mere fifteen minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Unroll the pastry and cut into 4 rectangles. Use a sharp knife to score a 1cm border around each, place on a baking tray, then chill until needed.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan, add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat, stirring, for about 10 mins, or until golden brown and almost all the liquid has evaporated. Season, add the garlic and walnuts, and cook for 1 min. Set aside.
• Put the goat's cheese in a bowl, season and stir through the thyme leaves. Remove the pastry from the fridge and spread the cheese over the centres. Top with the mushroom mixture, then brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg for a glossier finish, and bake for 20-25 mins or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Top with the remaining thyme sprigs and a good grinding of black pepper. Serve with a baby leaf salad.