Leeks and mushrooms, some Gouda cheese and store bought frozen puff pastry for an easy, fast, no fuss, delicious supper. A Mushroom, Leek, Gouda Puff Pastry Tart.
There are weekdays when cooking laborious, elaborate meals is not an option. Busy, stressful work days, family responsibilities, lack of warmth and sunshine in our winter days, reflect in an overall tiredness, a down mood and a lazy disposition. All we want to do when we get home, is get in our jammies or sweat pants, turn up the heat and cradle on the couch. It is in one of those days that having some vegetables in the fridge and a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer is of the utmost importance.
Having a fantastic cookbook at your disposal helps, too. In our case, a combination of: "The Messy Baker" cookbook, leeks and mushrooms, some Gouda cheese and a store bought frozen puff pastry provided us an easy, fast, no-cutlery-no-fuss, delicious supper. A Mushroom, Leek, Gouda Puff Pastry Tart.
In one of those lazy days, even taking detailed, perfectly styled shots is not in the mood. But the recipe and the result were too good not to be shared and so you will forgive our very simple photos taken with artificial light (well, it was supper time). The desire to eat a still warm flakey gooey piece of tart prevailed on all the rest 😉 .
Following the recipe is really effortless. In a large skillet melt the butter and the olive oil (the olive oil helps the butter not to burn) and cook the garlic, thyme and parsley for a minute. Add the leeks, cook until soft, then add the chopped mushrooms and cook through. The suggestion to let the mushroom mixture drain in a strainer is just because you don't want your tart to be soaked in juices; what you aim for is a light and flakey crust and a (still) juicy cheesy topping.
As for the cheese, we used a Sylvan Star mild Gouda, a cheese of great quality that we buy at the Strathcona Farmers Market, but you can use whatever melting cheese you have at the moment. As for the vegetables, you can adapt the recipe to whatever you have in your fridge. I am thinking endless combinations: onions and peppers, zucchini and goat cheese, asparagus and eggs, roasted vegetables and capers, spinachs and feta. You can also add some meat or cold cut, if that's what speaks to you. Remember, tonight is all about producing a delicious, stress-free, few-ingredients supper, so set your creativity in motion 🙂 .
With Loreto we shared the cleaning and chopping of the vegetables, then he helped me with the rolling and the scoring of the puff pastry sheet, while I was cooking the vegetables. Then he placed the mushroom filling perfectly inside the score marks. When the puff pastry was baking in the oven, you could see the edges puffing up, the vegetables and cheese stay nicely inside the marks, and the whole tart turn a beautiful golden color.
While the weather outside was frightful and the fire so delightful 😉 , we took our plates, settled on the couch and ate piece after piece of this tasty Mushroom, Leek, Gouda Puff Pastry Tart. All that was left over were few crumbs on the marble board.
Hooray for a lazy easy cheesey weekday supper!
Perfect accompaniment: "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars.
PrintMushroom, Leek, and Gouda Puff Pastry Tart
- Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 sheet commercial puff pastry, defrosted
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 smalll cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried (or fresh) thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white parts only
- 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped
- ground black pepper
- 3 ounces grated Gouda (or Gruyère) cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- On a sheet of parchment paper, roll the puff pastry out to a 10" square.
- Using a sharp knife, gently score the pastry an inch inside the outer egde, being careful not to cut all the way through. Place the parchment with the scored pastry onto a baking sheet. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and the olive oil, then grate the garlic on a microplane into the pan.
- Add the thyme and ½ teaspoon parsley. Cook gently for 1 minute. Add the leeksand cook until they begin to soften.
- Add the chopped mushroomsand cook until they are soft. Place the mushroom filling into a strainer and let drain for a few minutes.
- Spoon the mushroom filling onto the pastry, being careful to keep inside the score marks. Add a grinding of black pepper.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the tart from the oven and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
- Bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pastry is Golden brown.
- Serve hot.
Notes
The tart is best eaten as soon as it is cool enough to handle. To reheat leftovers, pop under the broiler for a few minutes. Do not reheat in the microwave, or you will loose all the flakiness.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 servings
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I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
I love everything about this recipe. It's like all my favorites combined in one! Can't believe how easy it is too. Making this very soon 🙂
Thanks Karrie. Easy, fast and super yummy. Can't go wrong 🙂
Mimi says
This is beautiful! I need to use puff pastry more often. Love the Gouda as your pick of cheeses!
Thanks Mimi! It was so easy to put together and the flavors were unbelievable! Gouda is such a great cheese, here it was just the perfect partner to the vegetables and puff pastry!