The art of a messy tart

Shiitake mushroom and Gruyere tart

I haven’t made a tart in a very long time. I was beginning to feel edgy and twitchy. Something was amiss and I knew there would be only one cure. I desperately needed to get back on the tart-making bandwagon again. And besides that, I was craving Martha’s Pâte Brisée recipe, which is nothing short of heavenly. Perhaps I can lay some of the blame on Molly at Orangette, who has recently reminded her readers again of Martha’s Pâte Brisée and left me feeling that I could not resist it any longer.

But from the onset, I faced a major obstacle. I have not a single tart pan with me here in Heidelberg. Well, come to think of it, I am not being entirely truthful. In fact, I don’t actually own any tart pans at all. Now that I recall, I have only ever made what could only be called a ‘rustic tart’. Some may actually call it messy, or not a tart at all. But they are just being difficult. In fact, when you call it ‘rustic’ it creates the illusion that you have a cupboard full of designer tart pans, but you have intentionally chosen not to use them. Let’s work with that illusion. In the meantime, I will have to update my Christmas list.

There is a recipe for a Gruyere and Asparagus tart on Martha’s website using store-bought frozen puff pastry. The first time I ever made this tart I didn’t listen to Martha. (You may, by now, be starting to see the pattern in my methods. I am a disobedient recipe follower. My father, who did all the cooking in our house when I grew up, would be very proud of me.) I had chosen to use Martha’s Pâte Brisée recipe instead of puff pastry, and I was astounded at how simple and delicious it was. It was basically just 3 ingredients: the tart dough, gruyere cheese and asparagus.

I decided that this time I would adapt the recipe even further by using a different vegetable: the shiitake mushroom. My boyfriend refuses to eat mushrooms and so I rarely cook with them anymore, unless he is away on business and I am cooking for one. But oh how I’ve missed them! Well, lo and behold, he was home but 3 days from his last business trip and he was called away again on a moment’s notice. So, I knew it was time for mushrooms.

And Gruyere is, in fact, one of my favourite cheeses, especially for melting, so I decided to stick with it for my tart. It is a cow’s milk cheese that is tangy, salty and mellow all at the same time. I will not make a grilled cheese sandwich with any other cheese. Though I can’t convince my boyfriend of that, who is fiercely loyal to a grilled cheese sandwich made with Kraft slices, with that unnatural pale orange colour. Do you see how I struggle?
You can read all about the cheese at www.gruyere.com. You know it’s good when it has it’s own website.

What I came up with was my own Shiitake Mushroom and Gruyere Tart, using Martha’s Pâte Brisée recipe. I will note that her recipe calls for a food processor to work the dough, which I do not have. (this Christmas list is getting longer). But I have had great success in making the pastry by hand, using my fingers to work the butter into the flour and to work the final mix into a soft dough.

The point with this recipe is that you can easily make your own ‘rustic’ tarts without having all the equipment. With a good pastry base you can experiment with other types of cheese and vegetables. Tomatoes, fennel, fontina, provolone…
This tart is lighter than a tart that has a savory custard filling, since it only has a layer of cheese on the bottom. And feel free to make 4 individual tarts if you prefer, instead of one big one.

Shiitake Mushroom and Gruyere Tart

½ recipe Pâte Brisée (leave out the sugar for savory tarts, extra dough can be frozen for up to a month)
4 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems discarded, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
pinch of salt
1 ¼ cup grated gruyere cheese
chopped Italian parsley to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Roll the dough out on a clean surface into a rectangular or round shape, to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Trim edges if you want it to be more tidy than mine pictured above. ( I rolled it out right on a piece of parchment paper so that I could just lift it onto the baking sheet. )

Add olive oil and butter to a pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and salt and saute until the mushrooms are slightly softened. About 3 minutes.

Spread the gruyere cheese over the tart, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges. Top with the mushrooms.
Place in the oven on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes until tart is browned and set. Top with chopped fresh italian parsley.