Toasty Roasty Food Blog

For the forest forager

Who makes their own puff pastry from scratch? No one, that’s who. 

Premade pastry has become a fun blank canvas for me to play on of late. It’s cheap and so easy to use and for some reason, feels and looks super classy and delicate when serving up a slice of homemade savoury tarts.

I live somewhere where wild garlic is abundant during springtime and this year I capitalised on that. I walked through a lovely forest and scooped up some of the leaves after I triple checked Google images to make sure I was collecting the right plant. The wild garlic leaves sat in my fridge for a few days until inspiration struck — and I ended up with this tart, which I’m now very proud of. It’s a satisfying mix of herby, zesty freshness and rich, savoury flavour. 

Effort: 2/5 – Prep some veg but the rest is easy.

Preferred season to enjoy: Spring & early summer when wild garlic is growing.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of rolled puff pastry
• 200g of crème fraîche
• 1 large bunch of wild garlic leaves, washed thoroughly
• 50 g of walnuts
• 30ml of olive oil 
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp Salt 
• ½ tsp black pepper 
• 1 small to medium white onion
• 300g of button mushrooms
• 2 tbsp of olive oil for frying

Method:

1. Read the instructions on the puff pastry packet and preheat the oven to the indicated temperature, usually 200℃.
2. Gently and carefully roll out the puff pastry on a baking sheet. Spread the crème fraîche over the pastry leaving a 1cm edge around the border. Set this to one side.
3. In a food processor, put the garlic leaves, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. On a low setting blend the ingredients until it reaches a smooth pesto consistency. As it is processing, stop and push the mixture down from the sides of the processor to ensure that everything is incorporated and blended. 
4. Take the pesto and spread the mixture over the creme fraiche in a similar fashion. Put aside. 
5. Finely dice the onion and thinly slice the mushrooms.
6. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat in a non-stick frying pan. Add the diced onion and a sprinkle of salt. Sauté the onions for 8-10 minutes on medium low heat in order to extract the most amount of flavour and slight caramelisation. 
7. Take off the heat and gently sprinkle the onions over the tart. When they have cooled and are safe to touch, gently distribute them around the tart to ensure they are evenly spread. 
8. Put the pan back on high heat and put the sliced mushrooms in. Leave the mushrooms untouched for about 5 minutes so they release their water and develop some colour. The heat will draw out the water from the mushrooms and allow some colour to develop. When the mushrooms are cooked down, remove from heat and distribute on top of the tart. 
9. Add another crack of black pepper over the tart and place in the oven for the indicated amount of time according to the puff pastry packet. 
10. Leave to cool for 2 minutes, drizzle some olive oil and slice up and enjoy with a side of veggies!