Savory Mushroom Tarts

So when deciding what to make for dinner last night, I opted to channel my inner Julia Child and take a little inspiration from the French culinary side of my training.  I also had a pound of amazing mushrooms that I had picked up on my last trip down to Russo's and wanted to make sure I did them justice.

The beauty of mushrooms... they're light so even thought they're insanely expensive, you can get a handful pretty cheaply.  I used a blend of cremini, shitake, hen-of-the-woods, maitake, oyster, button, black trumpet and hedgehog but you can use whatever you have readily available.  Lots of grocery stores nowadays have variety packs of high quality mushrooms that are relatively affordable.  

You can also construct this tart using whatever you happen to have in the house... Swiss chard, spinach, squash, beets, goat cheese... the sky really is the limit.  Just don't be afraid to get creative and think outside the box.  It's a fantastic way to use up whatever you may have in the fridge and not be wasteful.  

Mushroom blend prior to roasting

Savory Mushroom Tart

1 pound of assorted mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon white truffle oil

1 shallot, diced

1 white onion, diced

4 oz bacon (I used a wild boar bacon but any high quality cut works well)

3 eggs

1/4 cup creme fraiche

1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence

1/2 cup grated cave-aged gruyere (or any high quality gruyere cheese) 

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 12 inch ready-made pie crust

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Place mushrooms in a pie plate, drizzle with truffle oil and roast for 15 minutes or until they begin to reduce in size 

-Saute the bacon, shallot and onion over medium heat until the bacon begins to crisp slightly

-In a 9 inch pie plate, gently press the crust up the sides and trim off any excess

-Whisk together eggs, creme fraiche, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper in a small bowl

-Combine the bacon/onion mixture with the mushrooms and place into the crust

-Pour the egg mixture evenly over the top

-Distribute grated gruyere over the entire tart

-Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden brown

Unbaked tart before egg mixture is poured on top

Finished Tart