Thursday, July 23, 2009

Rustic Mushroom and Cream Cheese Tart



A lot of great things have come out of me creating this blog. For one, I am now experimenting much more with food, and am challenging myself to step outside of my comfort zone. But beyond the actual act of cooking and baking, this blog has has been amazing in terms of connecting with old and new friends, swapping recipes, and inspiring one another to try new and exciting things with food. Recently, one of my friends, Laura Franklin, a very talented photographer, suggested we merge our two passions to collaborate on a day of cooking and photography...which turned into a day of cooking, photography, tanning, and drinking pina coladas!!

For this collaboration, I wanted to create a recipe that would force me to step even further outside of my comfort zone, be visually striking, and be something a number of people could enjoy. One of my favourite indulgences are tarts. Be they sweet or savory, I just can't get enough of them! So I decided to create the ultimate savory tart! I have never been so proud of something I have cooked since making the worlds best onion rings. The tart was bursting with flavour! The mushrooms are creamy with a bit of a bite from the caramelized onions, and were complimented by tart and silky cream cheese. The dish was perfected by buttery and flaky puff pastry, which added a slight sweetness and texture the tart. Just as I said about the onion rings, Whoa Baby! I am soooo making this again!!
Tip: This tart is great for entertaining as it has a beautiful presentation. It can also be cut up into smaller squares to serve as a hors d'oeuvre.

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry
3Il mini bella mushrooms, sliced (you may use other types of mushrooms as well)
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp thyme
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
250g cream cheese
1 tbsp melted butter (optional)
1/2 tbsp chopped thyme (optional)
grated parmesan cheese, enough to make a thin layer on top of mushrooms + more parmesan slices for garnish
1-2 tsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet or sauce pan over low-medium heat and saute onions with sugar until caramelized, about 20-30 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until mushrooms become darkened and liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Cook for another 5-6 minutes, or until wine has cooked down.

3. Remove from heat and stir in thyme and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper

4. Preheat oven to 400ยบ. Place thawed puff pastry on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stretch or roll slightly to create the desired size of rectangle (use your discretion). Spread a layer cream cheese onto the pastry leaving about a 1 inch border all around the outside. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Spoon mushroom mixture on top of cream cheese in an even layer. Fold in border of pastry pinching lightly down. Sprinkle grated parmesan on top of mushroom mixture. Optional: You may lightly brush border with melted butter and sprinkle with chopped thyme.

6. Bake tart for 30 minutes, or until pastry is nicely browned. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parmesan slices and parsley, cool slightly, and serve.

Photography by Laura Franklin Photography.

11 comments:

Summer Athena said...

omg. this looks incredible and yay to beautiful photos of your creations!

Creative Classroom Core said...

What a beautiful dish!

Gabby said...

This looks SO good! Is this your own recipe?...just curious if you make up your own recipes or where you get them from. :)

Danielle said...

Thank you!! This is my own recipe. I started with the idea for mushroom and cream cheese bites that my mum used to make for parties, and I researched a bunch of different mushroom fillings to create the final one that is shown here. If there is ever a recipe on here that I have borrowed from, I have cited it. Most recipes that I borrow from tend to come from the Williams-Sonoma website, which I am ADDICTED to!

P.S. This tart would also taste AMAZING if you combined the cream cheese with some goat cheese! mmmm!

Mushrooms Canada said...

Gorgeous photo! I am sure that this is a fabulous dish, rich in mushroom flavour. I will certainly take the suggestion of adding goat cheese when I try it, I love goat cheese with mushrooms. Thanks for sharing!
- Brittany

Gabby said...

So I think I'm going to make this for a cocktail party I'm hosting on Saturday! I want bite size pieces though...do you think it's better to just make it whole and then cut it? Or can you come to California and make it for me? :)

test it comm said...

This mushroom tart sounds so good!

Danielle said...

Hey Gabby! As much as I would looove to come to California its not really in the cards for me at the moment lol.

But for the tart, it depends on how rustic looking you want it. If you want them to look more elegent I would make individual ones. Just Cut the puff pastry into squares leaving an egde around it so the filling wont spill out. I would skip out on folding in the pastry for a border to save on dough. To keep things simple and casual you could siply make the large one and cut it into pieces for your guests!

Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!!

Gabby said...

Thanks Danielle! I'll let you know how it goes for sure! Have a fantastic weekend :)

Frenchie said...

I find that cream cheese is often ignored in the kitchen, but it always makes such a great base for savory tarts and such. This looks like a great brunch treat, I cannot wait to try it.

Muneeba said...

Ohhhh yeah .. a cheesy, buttery, herby mushroom tart ... loving it! Do you know what I can use as a substitute for the white wine??