Some of you may have noticed my absence here on the blog this summer. It was a crazy 3 months filled with long beach days, playdates, and a month long trip to Europe. While I had prepared a ton of posts to go up while I was traveling, I never actually got around to doing it. I completely shut down my normally overworked work brain and went into full vacation mode!
Now that I am back, I have so much to share! I will be doing a more detailed post about our trip later, but for now I want to share a special recipe that I created while in Switzerland.
My kids absolutely love the country and throughly enjoyed their freedom there. Every morning, even before I was out of bed, they would head over to the local bakery and pick up fresh croissants. They also turned into quite the nature freaks too! When my son's great-uncle proposed an early morning mushroom hunt, I was dumbfounded when my teen agreed!
A few hours later, they came home with almost 5 pounds of beautiful fresh chanterelle mushrooms. While I hadn't intended on doing much cooking while on vacation, I could not resist creating something with the mushrooms!
I decided to make a simple tart with the chanterelles and Gruyère cheese. It was easy and delicious. It can be served as an appetizer, or, serve it with a side salad or a cup of soup for a flavorful lunch or dinner. And don't forget the wine! Enjoy!
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
- 1 large egg yolk , beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¾ cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup thinly sliced shallots
- 1 ½ pounds fresh chanterelle mushrooms
- ½ cup fresh arugula (optional)
- ½ cup shredded Gruyère cheese
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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Lay out the puff pastry sheet, poke with a fork a few times, and baste with egg yolk.
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Par-bake the puff pastry for 5 minutes.
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In a medium sized frying pan set on medium high heat, melt the butter. Add shallots and mushrooms and fry until the mushrooms have released the excess water (about 5 minutes). Drain and set aside.
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To make the béchamel sauce, sauté garlic in a pan with the butter, until soft (about 3 minutes), on medium heat.
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Add flour, salt and pepper, and thyme leaves, and whisk together until flour has absorbed the butter.
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Slowly add the half and half until while continuously whisking, until mixture has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon.
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Once done remove from heat.
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Spread béchamel sauce over puff pastry. Spoon chanterelles and shallots over the béchamel sauce and sprinkle with fresh arugula and Gruyère cheese.
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Bake tart for an additional 15 minutes or until the edges of the pastry is golden and puffy and the cheese has melted.
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Serve warm or room temperature.
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