You would never guess that this filling and moreish Mushroom and Thyme Tart is gluten-free vegan and so very easy to make.
Mushroom and Thyme Tart is perfect for lunch, light dinner, picnic or barbeque. For a fabulous lunch serve with Pan Fried Asparagus with Olive Oil and Lemon and Celeriac, Caper and Rocket Salad.
Allergy Information – Mushroom and Thyme Tart
Mushroom and Thyme Tart is gluten-free vegan as well as… celery free, coconut free, garlic free, lupin free, mustard free, nightshade free, onion free, peanut free, sesame free, soya free, tree nut free.
Top Tips – Mushroom and Thyme Tart
This recipe will make one large 28-centimetre tart or four to six smaller, individual tarts (depending upon the size).
I used supermarket packaged ‘forest’ mushrooms which is a mixture of chanterelle, oyster and shitake. You can make your own selection or use all chestnut mushrooms.
Handle the pastry as little as possible, the more you handle it the tougher it becomes.
Dry frying the mushrooms brings out the best flavour and stops them from becoming slimy.
This tart is wonderful served hot or cold and is great for picnics.
Recipe – Mushroom and Thyme Tart
Difficulty medium
Serves 6+
Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 25 minutes
Ingredients – Mushroom and Thyme Tart
1 Gluten Free Vegan Shortcrust Pastry recipe (unsweetened)
450 grams chestnut mushrooms
200 grams mixed ‘forest’ mushrooms
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
10 thyme sprigs (plus more for decoration)
1 packet (300 grams) silken tofu
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Method – Mushroom and Thyme Tart
1. Make the shortcrust pastry – as per recipe link (up to and including step 3). Use slightly more water than the recipe suggests (around five tablespoons of water) so the mixture is quite soft and set aside in the fridge for 10-15 minutes
2. Clean all the mushrooms and slice the chestnut mushrooms. Break the forest mushrooms into smaller bite-size pieces
3. Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and add the chestnut mushrooms until they colour and then turn. When they are coloured on both sides and start to release juice add in the stripped sprigs of thyme and mix well, set aside in a large bowl. Cook the forest mushrooms in the same way and set aside, keeping the chestnut and forest mushrooms separate
4. To make the tart filling, add the silken tofu to a jug or food processor with the Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend (in a food processor or with an immersion blender) until smooth and set aside
5. Preheat the oven to 180 C (fan). Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut off a chunk that is around a fifth of the pastry and set aside. Roll out the pastry to a rough circle (between sheets of grease-proof paper, silicone or cling-film to stop it sticking) around 28 cm in diameter. Place the pastry on a sheet of grease-proof paper or silicone and then onto a large baking sheet. Take the pastry chunk you set aside and pinch small pieces to roll into ‘sausages’ and use these strips to build an edge to the pastry – all the way around (this will stop the filling spilling out – see photo of the prebaked case to see what I mean)
6. Place the pastry case in the oven for around five minutes. Remove from the oven to cool slightly
7. Carefully fill the case with the tofu filling and top with the mushrooms. I made a pretty concentric pattern with the chestnut mushrooms and placed the forest mushrooms in a pile in the centre
8. Top with some extra sprigs of thyme, dust with salt and pepper and place in the oven (at 180C fan) for 20 minutes until the tofu filling is set and the pastry is crisp
9. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with almost anything from roast potatoes to a simple rocket (arugula) salad.
