Mushroom & Goat Cheese Tart with Caramelized Garlic, Onion, and Rosemary
paired with Hedges' 2012 Bel'Villa Single Vineyard Limited Merlot
This recipe makes one 10” tart that serves about 8, the recipe also works great for smaller individual tart pans. This recipe is adapted from a favorite Ottolenghi recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box puff pastry sheets (or 13 oz of puff pastry if you can get it from your local baker in a sheet)
1 medium head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
½ medium red onion, julienne
3 T olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar, split
1 c water, plus 2 T
1 T sugar
1 t chopped rosemary, plus more sprigs for garnish
8 oz mushrooms (chestnut, oyster, cremini, chanterelle)
1 T butter
4 ½ oz soft, creamy goat cheese
4 ½ oz hard, mature goat or sheep cheese (gouda, goat cheddar, manchego), grated
2 eggs
7 T heavy cream
7 T cream cheese, room temperature
Black pepper & salt
Instructions:
You will need a shallow loose-bottomed 11” fluted tart pan (or something similar). Preheat your oven to 350℉. If you are using store-bought pastry sheets, unfold both sheets and cut a third of the second sheet off. Use a little bit of water and your fingers to seal the cut piece with the whole sheet so you have one larger square piece of puff pastry. If necessary, lightly flour the puff pastry and gently roll it out so it is even with no cracks. Save the rest of your puff pastry in the freezer for another project.
Lay your tart pan on top and cut out a circle about an inch wider than the tart pan. Place the puff pastry in the tart pan and use your fingers to press it into the corners. Place a large piece of wax paper or foil in the tart and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes
Blind bake the tart shell for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and paper or foil and bake for 5-10 minutes more, or until the pastry starts to golden. Set aside and leave the oven on.
While the tart shell is baking you can start the garlic. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well and dry out the saucepan. Return the garlic to the pan and add 1 T of olive. Fry the cloves on high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add 1 t of balsamic vinegar and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the sugar, rosemary, and ¼ t of salt and continue simmering for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the cloves are coated in the dark caramel syrup. Set aside.
Next, make the caramelized onions. Add 1 T of olive oil to a medium saute pan over high heat. Add your onions and spread to cover the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook untouched for a few minutes, until you start to smell and see them browning. When they are a nice dark caramel brown color on one side stir the onions and deglaze the pan with 2 T of water. Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring often until onions are soft, a dark caramel color, and shiny. Set aside.
Cut your mushrooms of choice into bite-size pieces (if you are using wild mushrooms, you may want to look up their specific cooking method before continuing). Heat a medium saute pan over high heat, add 1 T butter and 1 T of olive oil to the pan. Once the butter is melted and the mixture is hot add in your mushrooms. If your pan is not big enough to fit all of them with space between, do this in batches. Turn heat down to medium-high and allow mushrooms to cook without stirring for 3 to 5 minutes. Stir mushrooms occasionally and allow to cook for another few minutes until they are evenly browned and all water has evaporated. Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
To assemble the tart:
Spread half of the shredded hard cheese across the bottom of the tart. Break apart the soft goat cheese and scatter half on the bottom of the tart. Scatter the onions over the top of the cheese followed by the garlic and the mushrooms. Sprinkle the rest of both cheeses over the top.
Whisk together the eggs, cream, cream cheese, ½ t salt, and a pinch of black pepper. It is okay if there are still small chunks of cream cheese. Pour this custard over the tart, filling in the gaps but not covering the ingredients on the top completely. Spread rosemary needles over the top.
Lower the oven temperature to 325℉ and place the tart inside. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the tart filling has set and the top is golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before removing from the tart pan to serve.
This tart reheats very well and is great with a bright salad and a glass of 2012 Merlot!
