A Winter Vegetarian’s Finest Good friend

What’s a vegetarian to do when the chilly forecast and a skeletal greenmarket conspire to drive her into the arms of Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese or the red-wine braised quick ribs of yesteryear? Nicely, a number of years into my complete “weekday vegetarian” factor, I found {that a} good start line for addressing this drawback is the common-or-garden mushroom. So far as I can inform, the whole thing of them — from grocery retailer buttons to speciality market maitakes — appear to be the one factor within the vegetable kingdom that may approximate the identical sort of meaty umami I crave when the mercury dips, particularly when they’re cooked all the way down to a concentrated crisp.

To be filed beneath “I’ve By no means Meet a Tart I Didn’t Love,” right here is that this Mushroom-and-Chives take, a winter cousin of spring’s Asparagus Tart, and simply as straightforwardly beautiful. Serve it with a salad, and also you’ve acquired your self a go-to consolation meals menu for winter.

Mushroom Tart with Chives
by Jenny Rosenstrach

Observe: Be sure you go away a number of hours in your puff pastry to thaw.

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra as crucial
20 ounces blended mushrooms (I used child Bellas, shiitake, and oyster right here), finely chopped
kosher salt and pepper
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 clove, garlic
1 14-ounce frozen puff pastry (equivalent to Dufour model), thawed
1 egg, whisked
1/2 cup ricotta or crème fraîche
2 tablespoons chives
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Warmth the oven to 400°F.

Add olive oil, mushrooms, salt, and pepper, to a big skillet set over medium warmth and cook dinner till mushrooms have misplaced a big quantity of moisture. (It’s okay if they appear piled up too excessive within the pan, they may shrink as they cook dinner.) Push the mushrooms to the perimeter of the pan, then add onion and garlic, plus extra oil if it seems to be dry, and cook dinner one other 3 minutes, stirring typically so the garlic doesn’t burn.

Whereas the mushrooms are cooking down, roll out the puff pastry on a flour-dusted floor and switch to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Utilizing a pointy knife, frivolously draw/rating a rectangle in the course of the pastry (with out slicing by way of), leaving a one-inch border. (It will assist the edges puff up when baking.) Utilizing your fingers or a pastry brush, brush the perimeter of the puff pastry with the whisked egg. In a small mixing bowl, mix the crème fraîche (or ricotta), chives, any remaining egg, salt, and pepper, and, utilizing a rubber spatula, unfold the combination within the drawn rectangle. (It’s okay in the event you go outdoors the strains a bit of!)

Scoop the mushroom-onion combination on high, evenly dividing every part, then high with Parm. Bake for 20-25 minutes till pastry is golden and puffy and the mushrooms look shriveled. Serve heat or at room temperature.

Thanks, Jenny! Observe her publication right here, in the event you’d like.

P.S. A squash ricotta tart, three no-fuss recipes for winter, and a pantry pasta for busy weeknights.