Onion and Mushroom Tart

© Dorine Houston 2007, all rightsreserved 

One Saturday evening every month is movie night at church; we have a DVD to enjoy together on a large screen preceded by a potluck supper. Quite naturally, we saw _The Nativity Story­_ this month; last month we saw _Amazing Grace_ and next month we expect to enjoy _The Sound ofMusic_.  We enjoy a good spread of food and some of us enjoy making special dishes.  This month, I wanted to make a dish that could be enjoyed by a couple of people who are vegetarians and another who is allergic to cheese.  At the same time, I wanted it to look elegant and taste good to all the other people.  I must have been successful; not a crumb was left by the end of dinner. 

Other times I have made salmon and asparagus tart, a platter of buterbrot (Ukrainian/Russian open-faced sandwiches), spanakopita, a variation of Ukrainian borscht and turkey-vegetable soup.  This time I made onion and mushroom tart.  It took a while to come up with the recipe, mostly because I wanted to make something without cheese. 

We are having a potluck dinner next Sunday after the Christmas cantata is sung.  Everybody has been asked to bring either soup or a platter of sandwiches.  Since I am singing, playing handbells and narrating in the cantata, I am alredy very busy, so have decided to make a platter of sandwiches and will probably repeat the successful buterbrod.

For the January movie night I might make salmon mousse.  Do you have any suggestions for potluck dishes that are not the usual pasta salads, three bean salads and casseroles? 

Onion and Mushroom Tart for a Potluck Dinner

Created by Dorine Houston on December 7, 2007 

Pate brise for a single-crust pie 

White of 1 egg 

1 T. cream 

6 T. unsalted butter, divided use 

3 small-to-medium onions, peeled, halved vertically and sliced very thinly 

1 lb. mushrooms, trimmed, wiped clean and sliced very thinly 

2 tsp. caraway seeds 

1 T. smoked Spanish paprika 

2 tsp. dry thyme 

1 1/2 tsp. sea or kosher salt 

Several grindings black peppercorns 

Several gratings whole nutmeg 

Yolk and remainder of white of egg used on crust 

1 additional egg, well beaten 

1/2 cup cream 

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease a cookie tin and sprinkle with flour; set aside. 

Roll out the pate brise to less than 1/4” thickness, into a rectangular shape.  Gently lift the pastry and set it on a cookie sheet.  Using both thumbs and forefingers next to each other, pinch up the sides of the pastry to about 1/3” to form a pretty ruffle.  Cover the shell with a sheet of buttered foil and lay a pie chain or a cupful of dry beans on top to weight down the surface.  Place the crust in the hot oven and bake 20 minutes.  Remove the chain or beans and foil.  Set on a wire rack to cool somewhat. 

Separate an egg and set the yolk aside.  Beat the white with a fork and then beat the tablespoon of cream into it.  Use a pastry brush (those new silicone ones are especially good) to coat the surface of the warm pastry shell very well.  Return it to the oven, this time not covered with foil, and bake 10 minutes or until the egg white wash has hardened.  Set on a cooling rack. 

Melt 2 T. of the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet.  Depending on the size of the skillet, brown the onions in one or more batches, adding more butter as needed, and then transfer to a bowl.  Melt the rest of the butter in the skillet and brown the mushrooms.  Scrape them and thebutter into the bowl with the onions.   Add the caraway seeds, thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg and combine well. 

Beat together the second egg, the reserved egg yolk, the remainder of the egg white wash and the cream thoroughly.  Scrape into the onion mixture and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasoning.. 

Spread the onion mixture evenly over the shell.  Dot the top with bits of chilled butter if desired. Return to the oven for 10-15 minute, or until the custard is set.  Place on a cooling rack. 

Very gently, use a spatula to slowly and carefully lift the tart away from the cookie sheet and place it on a large, attractive cutting board. Cut into serving size squares. 

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Variations: 

Add chopped pistachios, walnuts or pecans or whole toasted pine nuts to the mixture. 

Cut 4 oz. cream cheese into bits and stir into onion mixture.