Mushroom Tart with a beautiful creamy goat cheese and caramelized onion base. Made with puff pastry, this is a simple, elegant but absolutely delicious appetizer for your next party!
>>Want to PIN this recipe for later? Click HERE to save the recipe to your favourite Appetizer Board on Pinterest. <<
Hey hey friends! I hope your Christmas week was relaxing, I cannot believe it is only 4 days before the end of the year! What are you planning for NYE? Are you a go to bed kinda type, or a stay up and party? I'm somewhere in between! I love my sleep, but always feel obliged to stay up and hang out with friends! I'm just a Nanna at heart!
I've been doing some reflecting lately as well in life and have started to make some new intentions for 2019. A lot of them are based around more self care, less stress - the usual, but I've also put into place some serious business goals for The Home Cook's Kitchen, so I can't wait to see what happens!
2019 is looking to be a massive year for us both, so I am both approaching it with a little grace, apprehension and excitement, but more to come later! I am also reducing my posting schedule for the first few months of the year, looking to update some older content for you, and focussing on growing my traffic and building up THCK into a community.
I am also taking two weeks off over January when we go to New Zealand and Australia. I really want to focus on having that time to ourselves to relax and enjoy our holiday. I'm not very good at switching off though, so I'm still planning on having everything scheduled and organized before I go, so I don't have to do too much!
But to cut to the real reason we're here today, let's chat about a Goat Cheese Mushroom Tart, aka the last recipe that will be up on the blog in 2018 (omgggg)!
How to Make A Mini Mushroom Tart
These little mushroom tarts are really enjoyable bite size pieces of deliciousness! I love finger food, and I wanted to make a gorgeous appetizer just in time for New Years Eve!
I made them for my friends Christmas party the other week and they were a total hit, PLUS they are super easy to make, and can be made ahead of time and be reheated. Winning!
I've always said that make-ahead, easy appetizers are where it's at. I actually hate making appetizers, so I'm making a conscious effort to try and bring you some more appetizer recipes in 2019!
The Pastry
The pastry base for this is regular old store-bought puff pastry! I am not a pastry chef, so making my own puff pastry is totally out of the question (I've seen way to many disastrous attempts on Great British Bake Off to even try it!). I used two whole rolls to make 18 mini mushroom tarts, but you could easily double or reduce the recipe to create more or less.
One key tip when using puff pastry, is to make sure it's defrosted before you start using it, and make sure you roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If you're in America, what I've found is that usually frozen puff pastry is folded into three, leaving big crease lines. I like to gently use a rolling pin to roll out the creases to make them easier to cut.
Aussie friends, you're in luck. Puff Pastry is sold in flat sheets already, so you don't need to do that step!
If you do need to roll out your pastry to make it fully flat, lightly flour a wooden board and your rolling pin, then place the puff pastry on top of the floured board so it doesn't stick.
The Onion Filling
This is one of my favorite parts to the dish - caramelized onion! What's not to like? In fact, if you are adamant that you don't like mushrooms, you can actually omit the mushrooms and just leave the tarts as a caramelized onion and goat cheese tart, totally dreamy!
BUT I do love the earthiness of the mushroom, combined with the sweetness of the caramelized onion, so I like to keep both!
To caramelize the onion, you simply combined finely sliced onion, olive oil, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. The best method to slice your onion, is to cut it in half longways, remove the skin, then slice it in quarters, then finely slice the quarters to make strips. If you slice half your onion, we found it was a little too much to take in and harder to eat.
The caramelization process takes about 10 minutes, and the onions should be dark brown, reduced and sticky (see images for before and after). I remove the onions after cooking to cool just a touch, so I can reuse the same pan for the mushrooms.
The Shrooms
The mushrooms follow a similar process, but take less time. Instead of olive oil, I used butter (evoo is still fine though) as my base and added in some fresh time.
I like to slice my mushrooms finely, and then cook them in the butter and thyme for about 5-8 minutes.
Pro tip - by the smaller mushrooms at the supermarket. These tarts are delicate and small, so you don't want huge slices of mushroom covering the top. I love cremini mushrooms for this recipe.
Goat Cheese
The goat cheese adds a beautiful creamy texture and a light tang to these tarts, cutting through the sweetness of the onion. I bought a 4oz log (around 110g) and used it all for 18 tarts. Goat cheese is easy to find in most supermarkets and for this recipe I used plain goat cheese.
Putting it All Together
To assemble these little beauties, you want to firstly, slice your puff pastry into 9 equal squares per piece of pastry. Then I add around 1 tablespoon of onion mixture, top with about 1 teaspoon of goat cheese, then finish with 2-3 little mushroom slices.
Then I lightly egg wash the edges of the pastry so they brown in the oven, and bake in a 400F/200C oven for 15 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and is starting to brown.
Once cooked, you can cool them down and store them in an air-tight container in the fridge until you need to use them. I've only stored them for half a day but I think they should be fine up to a day.
To reheat, preheat the oven to 350F/180C and place them back in the oven for around 5-10 minutes until they're hot again! These are best served hot as the goat cheese goes all melty and gooey!
This goat cheese, onion and mushroom tart recipe is great to make for a party, pot luck or fun celebration! If you're looking for an easy, yet elegant and dainty appetizer, this is the appetizer for you! Not too heavy, but still fresh and flavorful, plus you'll love that they can be made without too much effort!
G x x
Mushroom Tart with Goat Cheese and Onion
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry thawed
- 2 brown/yellow onion finely sliced
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 12 cremini mushroom small ones, finely sliced
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 1 egg lightly beaten for egg wash
- 2 tablespoon chives for garnish
Instructions
For Onions
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and stir for 2 minutes before adding the brown sugar and balsamic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions have reduced and are nice and sticky. Remove from pan to cool.
The Mushroom
- Heat the same skillet over medium heat and add the butter to melt. Add in the mushrooms and thyme, and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring until the mushrooms are browned and softened.
Mushroom Tart
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C
- Slice your puff pastry sheets into 9 equal pieces. Place each square on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of onion in the centre, top with a teaspoon of goat cheese and finish with around 3-4 mushrooms.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the outside edges of the tarts.
- Place in oven for 15 minutes, or until the tarts have puffed up and are lightly browned.
- Serve warm!
**Want to PIN this recipe for later? Click HERE to save the recipe to your favourite Appetizer Board on Pinterest. ***
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Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Wow, now that looks like an appetizer! I can't wait to make these mushroom tarts for game day next Sunday!
Georgie says
thanks Sam, they'd be perfect for game day!
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life says
This looks like the perfect appetizer for entertaining! I'm definitely tucking this one away for later. 🙂
Georgie says
they're so perfect beacause they're so eas! you can't go wrong with a puff pastry appetizer!
Kiki Johnson says
You had me at goat cheese! I have been on the lookout for a little something to serve at our housewarming party next week! These are just the ticket!
Georgie says
thanks Kiki! They're SO delicious, the goat cheese goes all melty and gooey, I love it!
Jessica says
I made these exact tarts for New Year's Eve dinner, they're great! The flavors combine just perfectly and it's a perfect delicious appetizer!
Georgie says
thanks Jessica, I hope you loved them!
Dana says
I love using puff pastry in my foods, it's so fun to use and makes everything beautiful! The caramelized onions look amazing!
Georgie says
it is one of my favourite parts! I am a sucker for caramelized onions though!
Aleta says
Oh boy this appetizer looks absolutely DELICIOUS! Anything with puff pastry makes me squeal with delight, never mind with mushrooms, balsamic, thyme and goat cheese! Excellent recipe 🙂
Georgie says
I am a huge fan of puff pastry too! Thanks Aleta 🙂
Tammy says
I love the goat cheese with the sauteed onions and mushrooms. These tarts look so incredibly good! I wish I had one right now 😀
Georgie says
thanks so much Tammy, the flavor combination is unreal and they're so easy to make too which is an added bonus!
Kelly Anthony says
Caramelized onions and mushrooms are so perfect together! Add to a puff pastry, and I'm in heaven. Love this combo!
Georgie says
thanks Kelly they do go great together! especially with the goat cheese to top it off!
Analida Braeger says
Yummy! These are all my favorite things. Mushrooms, goat cheese, and pastry. I'm not sure if I could share haha. Love the inspiration. Thanks.
Georgie says
they were definitely hard to share, but lucky they make 18!
Sherri says
Caramelized onions, mushrooms and goat cheese! Yes, please! So much flavor, my mouth is watering! A beautiful and delicious appetizer! 🙂
Georgie says
thanks Sherri! the flavour combination is SO SO yummy! I could eat it all day!