Creamy Mushroom Tart

I LOVE mushrooms!  It's one of those foods that people either love or hate.  If you fall into the latter category, click here, there is nothing in this post for you.  If you are a mushroom lover like me, you have to try this recipe at least once over the holidays.  A big thanks to my sister Sue for being my idea bouncing board and eager guinea pig for this recipe.

This recipe was inspired by the mushroom roll ups that I grew up enjoying on special occasions.  You know the ones, with the creamy mushroom spread rolled up into flattened sandwich loaf slices and then baked.  I adore them, but I wanted a bit more pizazz,  I wanted to make it easier as well.  Rolling and trimming crusts off of a loaf of bread is a bit too tedious for me this time of year.  So, I swapped bread for frozen puff pastry, added some zing (and bacon) to the filling and ended up with the most scrumptious mushroom tart I have ever eaten.

My Creamy Mushroom Tart

Makes 16 App-Sized Wedges

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

2 slices bacon, chopped

2 tbsp minced red (or yellow) onion

1 clove garlic, minced

4 oz cremini or mini bella mushrooms, cleaned and rough chopped, have another 1 or 2 extra for garnish, thinly sliced.

1 tsp dry herbes de Provence

2 tbsp dry white wine

1/2 cup (half of a small tub) of light cream cheese

1/2 tsp each of salt and black pepper

1/3 cup shredded Mozzarella or Provolone cheese

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Roll out puff pastry to fit a small tart pan, either round, rectangle, or simply free-form on a parchment lined baking sheet.  (If doing free-form, using a sharp paring knife, cut a border about half of the way through the dough about 1/3 of an inch from the edge.  This outside edge will puff more and give you an outer crust)  Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, cook the chopped bacon, onion, garlic, chopped mushrooms and herbes de Provence over medium heat until the bacon is cooked and the mushrooms have released most of their liquids.  Add the wine and continue to cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated.  Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese until smooth, also adding the salt and pepper.  Mix in the shredded cheese and then bring the tart pastry out of the fridge and spoon the filling into it.  Using the reserved sliced mushrooms, decorate as desired.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and the tart filling is also browning.  Serve as small wedges for party apps or cut into four and serve with a salad for a decadent holiday brunch.

You could easily prepare the filling ahead of time and store in the fridge along with some thawed puff pastry to have fresh, super-quick and unforgettable snacks for pop-in guests.

Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional values, based on recipe calculator on Sparkpeople.com.  Per serving (1/16th of recipe) 120 calories, 8.3g fat (2.3g saturated), 7.8g carb (0g fiber), 3.6g protein, this will vary based on your specific ingredients.