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Dinner Tonight: Zucchini, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Tart

Posted by Blake Royer, August 4, 2009 at 5:15 PM

One of the few premade food products I am more than happy to cook with is frozen puff pastry. The stuff is magical. Making puff pastry from scratch is undoubtedly a wonderful experience (one I've never had the pleasure of embarking on), with its layers of dough, one after the other rolled out meticulously, each embedding another layer of butter into the sheet. It would likely taste better than the frozen option. But it's the ease of recipes like these that make it hard to switch.

This particular tart recipe comes from a Whole Foods brochure, but it's a pretty standard preparation. The vegetables are cooked on their own so they're just about as done as you'd like to eat them, then layered on the frozen sheet, which bakes from a flat slab into the airy, puffy crust you see above. Mushrooms and zucchini are great together; if possible, use more than one kind of mushroom—it makes a big difference in flavor.

This tart is very rich, so a little goes a long way. A big green salad is a nice way to round out the meal.

Zucchini, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Tart

- serves 4 -
Adapted from a recipe in a Whole Foods brochure.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced, preferably a mix of types
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoon Madeira wine
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (1/2 17.3-oz package)
3 ounces goat cheese, thinly sliced

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini slices and cook until golden, 5-7 minutes, turning halfway through. Transfer to a plate and add the mushrooms, a good pinch of salt, and remaining oil. Continue cooking until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms have browned; add garlic and thyme and continue cooking an additional couple minutes until garlic softens. Add Madeira wine and cook until it has evaporated and absorbed into the mushrooms, about 1 minute. Season to taste.

3. Lay puff pasty on parchment paper and prick all over with a fork, leaving 1/2 inch border on the sides. Spread mushrooms over sheet, then layer zucchini and cheese on top.

4. Cook in the oven 30 to 40 minutes, until edges of pastry are golden and puffed. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

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Tags: frozen puff pastry, goat cheese, mushrooms, puff pastry, tarts, vegetarian, zucchini

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