Recipe from Baking By Hand by Andy King and Jackie King (Page Street Publishing; August 2013) Printed with permission. Available through Amazon.com We have a real weakness for fresh goat cheese, and we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by local producers here in northern Massachusetts. Pairing it with mushrooms and thyme gives you a really traditional, tantalizing, savory treat. The oyster mushrooms add a pretty touch to the presentation, but piled shiitakes (or even raw cultivated enokis) would work just as well.
1lb/450 g oyster mushroom stems(reserve the flowery caps for garnish)
3minced shallots
3oz/75 g unsalted butter
Fine sea salt
3oz/80 ml heavy cream
15sprigs fresh thyme
Egg wash, consisting of 1 beaten egg and a splash of water
6oz/175 g fresh chèvre, crumbled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450˚F/230°C, with the baking stone in place.
For the crust, roll out the dough to about 14 inches × 27 inches/35 × 70 cm, about ⅛ inch/3 mm thick, and cut out six 7-inch/18-cm circles.
Place six 5-inch/12-cm flan rings on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and spray with cooking spray.
Place one circle on top of each ring. Lifting up around the entire perimeter of the disk, “settle” the dough into the corners of the rings. Then, working from the outside in, roll the overlapping dough until you can press the roll into the side of the flan ring, creating a thicker outer crust with a thin bottom.
Chill until ready to use.
Separate the stems from the tops of the oyster mushrooms. Finely chop the stems.
Mince the shallots and then sweat them in the butter over medium heat. Once the shallots are soft and translucent, add the chopped mushroom stems to the pan.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms brown a bit and all the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste with salt.
Turn off the heat and stir in the cream.
Coarsely chop 12 sprigs of the thyme and add to the mixture. Set aside to cool.
Once the mixture is cool, assemble the tarts.
Egg wash the rim of the pastry crust and put about 2 ounces/50 g of the duxelles in the bottom of the chilled pastry circles, spreading it evenly.
Then add 1 ounce/30 g crumbled chèvre in the very center, leaving a ½-inch/1-cm border of the duxelles visible.
Toss the tops of the oyster mushrooms lightly in olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Place these in the center of the tart on top of the goat cheese.
Bake the tarts directly on the baking stone. After about 10 minutes, the pastry dough will start to puff and may need to be pricked with the tip of a knife or a wooden skewer to release the steam. Otherwise, the tart will keep expanding and blow up; you may need to prick it a few times at various points.
Rotate the pan and bake for another 10 minutes. then, move the pan up to the middle rack and bake for another 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the mushrooms have browned and cooked down a bit.
Remove from the oven and remove the rings. Strip the remaining three thyme sprigs of their leaves and sprinkle evenly over the tops of the tarts.