This mushroom tart is a cross between a pie and a quiche, and is a fantastic thing to make for date night, holidays or even just Sunday brunch, if you’re into that sort of thing. Any sort of mushroom will work, and you can make it with pre-made pie crust if you want.
What makes this a mushroom tart and not a pie is that there is no top crust, and, well, I am using a tart pan. these are the pans with the fluted edges and the bottom that pops out. You could make this with a regular pie pan, too.
As you can see, I am using porcini mushrooms here, which, if you are not familiar, are considered by many to be the king of all mushrooms. I gather them in the Sierra Nevada each spring, and they live here and there all over the world. But don’t get all hung up on the porcini. Any fresh mushroom will work.
Any variety you’d like to eat fresh will do, which is most of them, and each one will give you a slightly different effect. That said, I’d use cremini, shiitake or those “chef’s blend” packets you can buy if you are not a mushroom hunter.
If you are, use your favorite. Chanterelles, morels, boletes and hedgehogs are all good options, as are hen of the woods and the various edible agaricus species.
Mushroom Tart Dough
So you can absolutely use a regular, store-bought pie dough from your freezer section. It works fine, and is actually better if you are using a pie pan instead of a tart pan.
I prefer a French pâte brisée, which is a slightly fancier pie dough. You mix flour, salt and sugar, then cut in butter, then add ice water and a little vinegar. Knead it into a dough briefly, then roll it out thin to fit your tart pan.
The dough can be made up to a couple days ahead and stored, tightly wrapped, in the fridge.
The Filling
Mushrooms, obviously. But it’s more than that. This filling is loosely based on my recipe for creamy mushrooms on toast, only with egg to help it set.
My recipe has bacon or ham in it, but you can skip that to make this a vegetarian mushroom tart. I prefer it with smoky bacon, which pairs well with mushrooms.
Basically you sauté onions and mushrooms in bacon fat, then add a little sour cream, some cheese — gruyere in this case — a fresh herb like parsley, and then let it cool enough to mix in beaten eggs.
Pour it in to the mushroom tart pan and bake to set.
If you want to be oh-so-fancy, you can sauté your prettiest mushrooms, or slices of said mushrooms, first, using them to decorate your tart. If you’re going to go to the trouble of making a mushroom tart, I say you oughta decorate it. But you do you.
Serving Your Mushroom Tart
The cool thing about this mushroom tart is that it’s good any which way you want: Piping hot, room temperature, or even right out of the fridge.
I like to reheat it in the toaster oven at about 350F for 8 to 10 minutes when it’s cold out, room temperature when, well, it’s kinda normal out, and right out of the fridge when it’s hot.
Once made, the tart will keep a week in the fridge. It doesn’t freeze well.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me at huntgathercook.
Mushroom Tart
Equipment
- 1 tart or pie pan
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 3/4 pound pastry flour, or all purpose
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 7 ounces cold butter, diced small
- 1/3 cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
FILLING
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 cups minced onion
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms
- 1/4 pound grated gruyere cheese
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons parsley
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
DOUGH
- Mix together the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Add half the butter and pulse 5-7 times to cut it into the flour. Do this with the other half of the butter. Keep pulsing it until the dough starts to look like cornmeal. You can also do all this by hand in a large bowl.
- Add the ice water and the vinegar and pulse a few more times. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and work it into a ball. You don't really want to knead it much or the crust will be tough. Wrap the dough in plastic and set it in the freezer if you are moving right to making the filling, or in the fridge if you're going to wait. You can keep the dough in the fridge a few days.
FILLING
- Cook the bacon in a large sauté pan until crispy. Eat a piece, then chop the rest roughly and set aside.
- While the bacon is cooking, chop most of your mushrooms, leaving some nice pretty ones as decoration, or, if they are large, make pretty cross-section slices to decorate the tart.
- Sauté the onions in the bacon fat for a minute or three, then add the mushrooms. Turn the heat up to high and cook until you are getting a little browning on the onions and mushrooms, about 8 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and let this cool.
MAKING THE TART
- When you are ready to make the tart, preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the dough on a clean, floured surface until it's about 1/4-inch thick. Lay it over the tart pan and use your fingers to set it snugly into the fluted edges and corners of the pan. Run a rolling pin over the top edges of the pan to cut the dough cleanly off.
- Add the beaten eggs, sour cream, parsley and grated cheese to the filling mix and stir well. Fill the tart. You'll want to set the tart on a baking sheet in the oven — this makes it easier to remove later without inadvertently popping the bottom out. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Drop the heat to 350°F and keep baking until the top is pretty and browned. Remove the baking sheet with the tart on it and let this cool 5 minutes before popping the tart out of its pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
This was very tasty. I would suggest blind baking the tart shell before adding the filling. The bottom was a bit soggy in the center. I used a bit of truffle oil in lieu of bacon to make it vegetarian for a guest.
You done good Hank! Fantastic, as always!
Delicious!
Store bought ‘shrooms — I’m a hunter, not a forager, and it’s winter in the Rockies here.
My calorie conscious wife ate two pieces.
I am no pastry chef. My wife bakes the pies around here, and she’s a master. The crust was the most challenging for me. But it came together in the tart pan and the rest was easy.
Delicious! Everyone loved it. Only nitpick – way more dough than you need for a standard tart pan. Can easily dial back by a third. Filling filled the pan perfectly, so not sure how Hank uses that much dough.
Haha, this is why I love your recipes–so realistic! Great tart, too!
1. Cook the bacon in a large sauté pan until crispy. Eat a piece, then chop the rest roughly and set aside.
I made this with fresh picked (in winter, no less!) wild brick caps, which are very mild flavored, so I added a little truffle oil. Also subbed in Greek Kefalograviera cheese since I had no gruyere on hand. Creamy and delicious!!!
This was really good! Nice texture and great flavor. Kids asked for seconds. I used baby bella, portobello, and trumpet mushrooms.
Hmm, can I use those sort of “hard pieces of fat” that remain after rendering sheep/ruminant fat, instead of the bacon? Would they be too chewy?
(Are those even healthy to eat? They sure have a nice flavor tho…)
Thanks
Gruyère, mushrooms and herbs are just an unbeatable combination. Very timely tart, thanks Hank 🙂
FYI, for those who don’t want to or can’t use flour, sliced potatoes lightly pre-roasted in the oven and arranged on the bottom and sides of the pie plate, make an AMAZING substitute crust 😀
I might even prefer it, especially with savory pies/tarts like this.
What do you think about using dried boletes?
Jared: It’ll work fine for the filling, but I’d only use fresh ones for the decoration on top.
Perfect combination of creamy & umani flavor. I used Shiitake, yummy!