Thursday, March 6, 2008

Mushroom and Spinach Tart

How do you cause waves of awe and wonder at the next party or potluck you attend? How do you get friends and family to exclaim, "I had no idea you were such a culinary genius!"? Easy...you whip up a mushroom spinach tart!

I made this last week, and it was equal parts simple, delicious and beautiful. I'm usually not a big fan of meals that use puff pastry, since there's absolutely no healthy thing about it. But for this recipe, it was worth it. And since most of the other ingredients are vegetables, you can eat it and feel at least medium-ish okay about yourself.
Feel free to add your own favorite mix of vegetables. It makes a great dinner, or appetizer for a cocktail party.

Ciao and chow, friends!

Mushroom Spinach Tart
Flour for rolling out puff pastry
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3 ounce package), thawed
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and pepper
2 10-ounce packages mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 10-ounce package fresh baby spinach
2 ounces ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On floured surface, roll puff pastry out to form a 16x10-inch rectangle. Place the pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score the dough to form a 1-inch border. Using a fork, prick the dough inside the border every 1/2 inch. Bake until golden, rotating the pan once, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, toss onion with 1 tablespoon of oil. Season with salt. Cover and cook over medium heat until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir. Continue cooking with cover on for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Set aside. In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms. Cover and cook until tender and all liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Fold in the spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain all liquid. Top the dough with mushroom-spinach mixture. Scatter the onions and ricotta cheese on top. Bake about 15 minutes.

18 comments:

  1. Wow wow wow! Yummy. I haven't had my lunch. I can do with some. :P

    Alexander
    Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

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  2. That looks so yum!!! haha maybe i'll make it for the bf...if he's good to me ;)

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  3. DELICIOUS looking! I love mushrooms!

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  4. Yum. That tart looks delish! And its vegetarian! I should make it tonight.

    p.s. I loooove your new look! How'd you do it?

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  5. aaww tasty presentation! (but i just have a huge fear/dislike of mushrooms) lol. I'd just pick them out though, cos it looks good :)

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  6. That looks absolutely amazing... oh my gosh. I'm totally adding that to my list of recipes to try!!

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  7. Awesome!! I need to work in a flour-free pastry crust but I love the idea of this.

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  8. Oh, I might need to try this one out! It looks delicious. I'm not a big mushroom fan, but I bet I could substitute it with something else.....

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  9. this looks about 12 kinds of delicious.

    Ciao and chow--I love it :)

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  10. this makes me wish that I like mushrooms.

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  11. there in no way i would be able to cook that, but it looks awesome.

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  12. are you kidding me? you keep one upping yourself with these recipes, haha

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  13. omgosh. that looks freaking delicious.

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  14. That looks gorgeous. I will have to make it someday soon :)

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  15. these savory tarts are one of my favorites easy quick meals. yours looks great!

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  16. Larissa- looks FANTASTIC! Way to bring the 20-something to Tastespotting!

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  17. Really good had it for tea tonight good with mozz instead of ricotta and it was spot on!! And really really easy i hardly felt like i had been cooking.

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