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Mushroom and Onion Tart with Gruyere

Posted on | March 29, 2009 | 8 Comments

Listen up, because I’m here to tell you, right now, that few culinary treats are easier to make and more rewarding than the savory tart. Amenable to breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch service; comfortable in the supporting cast as an appetizer before a meal, or in the starring roll, as the main course – the savory tart is the ultimate utility player. The French have know this, well, forever.

I first learned of the beauty of the tart when I was living in Ireland. My friend and roommate Chris, from Nimmos Wine Bar, made a new tart almost daily – using the moreover bits of cheese from the cheese board, and any vegetables that were nearing the conclusion of their freshness. I’d arrive at work in the late afternoons to prepare the bar and would smell the unforgettable, magical scents of cheese and butter co-mingling with pastry.  One afternoon, I finally asked him to show me the secret for making the perfect tart, and, well, there really were none. The tart, like most things, is rooted in some basic fundamentals. Everything thereafter is freestyle – as cooking should be.

At the time, though, and as a novice cook, I did invest in a fabulous tart cookbook; one that I still page through, seemingly every week, for inspiration. It’s called the Art of The Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis. You’ll find it on page two of the culinary store, and if you choose to purchase it I promise you won’t regret it.

One of the reasons I love the tart, is that it is not, despite its often beguiling looks, a fancy food. It is grounded in the simple principle of comfort. It also so happens to provide this sense of comfort via one of the world’s perfect food delivery mechanisms – the tart shell. Learn to appreciate the savory tart and you’ll save yourself a great deal of angst next time you don’t know what to do with all the leftover or moreover produce in your fridge, because you can make a tart with almost any filling imaginable. For this recipe, I went with the simple combination of Mushroom and Onion.

The foundation of the tart, of course, is the tart shell (I use a nine-inch removable base tart tin). Recently, I asked my friend Jenni from Online Pastry Chef, to talk me through my troubles with pastry. I continually experienced pastry shrinkage during blind baking – and it was pissing me off. Her response to my plea, and her masterfully simple recipe for perfect pie crust, is here. Experiment if you dare, but use this recipe, and this method, if you tend to like sure things, which are about as common as unicorns in the world of pastry.

Let’s talk about the mushrooms for a moment. Most shrooms are composed of approximately 80-90 percent water, meaning that when you heat them, that water is going to want to relocate elsewhere. You, shroom cooker, want to help it achieve its goal.  And as a quick aside, no, mushrooms don’t soak up the water from the washing process, as Alton Brown so eloquently dispelled in an Episode of Myth Smashers.

Mushroom water relocation poses a problem if you’re baking an uncooked mushroom in pastry. So, you’re going to want to pre-cook, or saute them prior to adding to the tart shell. After slicing your shrooms, add a generous tablespoon of butter to the pan at medium high heat. I also like to add a tablespoon of truffle oil to enhance the earthiness of the dish, but it’s optional. Once the butter bubbles and starts to brown, add your mushrooms. It’s important not to crowd the pan, so I work in batches; cooking one package of mushrooms at a time. Once the mushrooms are in the pan, give them two quick tosses to coat them with the butter, add a pinch of salt…and then leave them the hell alone.  Here’s why: Remember how much water is in mushrooms? Yes, alot. If you’re constantly reintroducing the non-pan side (or cold side) water-filled fungus to a hot pan, you’ll end up, in essence, reducing the temperature of the pan surface, which will in turn oppose your efforts to saute the shrooms to a light golden brown. Instead, you’ll end up steaming the shrooms and they’ll come out of the pan gray, watery, and slightly rubbery – not the most attractive facets of edible food stuffs.

When you leave the shrooms alone, first you’ll hear the sizzle, then see increasing amounts of steam rising up out of the pan, and then the water will begin to render out into the pan. This is what you want to see. Resist the urge, I promise, to mess with them as they are ridding themselves of this water.  After 3-5 minutes of this, it will begin to disappear. When this happens, flip the shrooms and repeat. This time, the process will move along at increased pace.

When you’ve cooked your two batches of shrooms, add them to a bowl and set aside.

Approach your half yellow onion and, with the cut side facing down, slice the onions lengthwise – not too thin. Add the onions to a medium high heat pan and cook 10-12 minutes. At about 8 minutes, add chicken stock or water to the pan a few tablespoons at a time so that the onions won’t burn. You want them to be slightly caramelize, but not overly colored. When the onions are done, mix with the mushrooms and add to the fridge until cool – 15 minutes or so.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Beat two whole eggs and set aside.

Grate Gruyere (about a cup’s worth using the larger side of the grater) and set aside.

When the mushroom and onion mixture is cool, mix in, thoroughly, the beaten egg and grated cheese.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and add to a nine-inch tart pan. Push the pastry down into the pan, being careful not to pull or stretch the pastry, as this will cause it to shrink. If you need some extra pieces to fill in the holes, just push them on in with your fingers.

Puncture the base of the pastry with a fork, brush onto the pastry a bit of egg wash, and bake at 375 degrees without the filling for 8-10 minutes. If you have pie weights, great. If not, any type of dried bean will work swimmingly. Next, remove the tart shell from the oven and let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Next, add the mushroom and onion filling with the egg and cheese.

Return to the for 15-20 minutes or until the top is bubbly and the crust is brown.

When you remove the tart from the oven, drizzle a tablespoon of truffle oil over the warm tart and let sit.

Et, voila. A tart is born.

Filling

½ Yellow Onion, sliced
2 packages white button mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
1 cup grated Gruyere (I like Gruyere because I feel it plays well with the earthiness and acidity of the onions.)
2 eggs, beaten
¼ stick of butter
4 tablespoons truffle oil
pinch of salt and black pepper

Pastry (courtesy of Jenni Field at The Online Pastry Chef)
10 oz. all-purpose flour
1 stick, unsalted butter (cold and cut into pieces)
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons ice water

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