Oven baked goods are exactly what you need on a cold winter evening. This Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart has a golden, flaky puff pastry crust and a cheesy, creamy topping. It can be served as an entree, a side dish or even a main dish, if you eat enough of it. Also, this recipe is so easy to make and you’ll have minimal cleanup to do – just a skillet, the chopping block and a knife.
How to make this Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart
This recipe is ready in no time, can easily be doubled or tripled and can serve a bunch of people. However, you’ll have to do a little bit of prep work before assembling the puff pastry tart, but nothing fancy or time consuming. I’ve divided the instructions in 3 main sections to help with the process:
- Handling the Puff Pastry
- Mushroom, Onion and Garlic Topping
- Assembling the Tart
1. Handling the Puff Pastry
- Thaw the puff pastry according to the package instructions. I usually thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, but you could leave it at room temperature until you can manoeuvre it without breaking, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Cut the puff pastry in your desired shape, I cut mine in a 8 by 16 inch rectangle. You could also make smaller, individual tartlets for quick serving.
- Score a 1 inch border with a sharp knife. Don’t cut too deep or the puff pastry edge might separate from the center.
- Poke the center with a fork.
- Blind bake it in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until puffed up and slightly golden-brown. You could start cooking the filling in the meantime.
- Take it out and gently press the center of the puff pastry to flatten it a little bit, but not all the way.
- Assemble the puff pastry tart.
2. Mushroom, Onion and Garlic Topping
While the puff pastry is blind baking, start preparing the topping. Begin cutting the vegetables beforehand to have everything prepped and ready.
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, thinly slice the mushrooms and roughly chop the fresh parsley.
- Cook the onion with 2 tbsp butter until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the minced garlic cloves and cook them for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Stir in the sliced mushrooms. Use more mushrooms than what seems appropriate, even if it seems like there’s too many – they’ll shrink a lot.
- Cook all the veggies until there’s just a little liquid left and the mushrooms start to get golden-brown.
- Mix the fresh parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Assembling the Tart
When the puff pastry has partially baked and the filling cooked, there’s nothing left to do but to assemble the tart.
- Spread a couple of tbsp of soft cheese in the center of the puff pastry, but not on the edges. You can heat the cheese for 10-15 seconds in the microwave to help it loosen a little and to be easier to spread.
- Cover the soft cheese with the mushroom, onion and garlic filling as evenly as possible.
- Crumble goat cheese over the top.
- Brush the edges of the puff pastry with egg yolk.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the margins are puffed and golden-brown and the goat cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley, extra goat cheese crumbles, flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve straight away.
Unfortunately this recipe doesn’t keep well in the refrigerator, the puff pastry will become soggy. Also, it doesn’t freeze well at all. One way to prep this a little bit ahead of time is by cooking the filling beforehand, then simply blind bake the puff pastry, assemble and bake again.
Ingredients used in this Puff Pastry Tart
- Puff Pastry: I used pre-rolled, buttery, store-bought puff pastry. You could also make it yourself if you want, but it’s too much work for me and the store-bought kind is good enough.
- Unsalted Butter: I just love the flavour of butter, but you could use extra virgin olive oil instead.
- Onion and Garlic: The perfect combo in any dish.
- Mushrooms: You can use any type of mushrooms or even a mix. I used large, brown champignons.
- Fresh Parsley: I could also see this tart taste amazing with thyme or rosemary.
- Soft Cheese: Adds a layer of creaminess.
- Goat Cheese: The mushroom and goat cheese combination is delicious. Another great option for a melty, cheesy tart is mozzarella.
Mushroom and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Tart
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry 8 by 16 inch, thawed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb mushrooms sliced thinly
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 2-3 tbsp soft cheese
- 2 oz goat cheese crumbled
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Dice the onions, mince the garlic, brush and slice the mushrooms and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the puff pastry in a 8 by 16 inch rectangle and place it on the parchment paper.
- Use a sharp knife to score a 1 inch border and prick with a fork the central part of the puff pastry. Blind bake for 15 minutes or until it starts to puff and look golden.
- While the puff pastry is baking, melt butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in roughly chopped fresh parsley.
- Take the puff pastry out of the oven and gently press the center to flatten it. Spread soft cheese in the center, leaving the edges clean (heat it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to loosen it). Cover with cooked mushroom mixture and sprinkle goat cheese crumbles. Mix 1 tbsp water with the egg yolk and brush the edges of the puff pastry.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are puffed and golden-brown. Cut into 4 or 6 pieces. Serve with flaky sea salt, extra fresh parsley and goat cheese.