Goat Cheese, Mushroom and Cranberry Tartlets
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I whipped up some carrot pies and absolutely fell in love with the pie crust. I made some minor tweaks, just to clean up the appearance and eliminate the sweetener. I wanted a savory hand-held tart, perfect for any social gathering.
What I made were delightful little mini-pies. Each crustlet has some herbed mushroom duxelles lining the bottom. This has a few dried cranberries plunked into it, then crumbled fresh goat cheese. Finally, some bacon bits! A nice and simple little collection of flavors.
I should add that these reheat VERY well. If you’ve got a party you’re attending, make them the night before, chill them, package them and bring along a cookie tray, wherever you’re going. Pop them back in the oven just before serving and you’ll form yourself a nice little collection of tartlet fans!
Note: Makes 24 little tarts. Recipe intended for 3 tartlets per person, for 8 people.
What I made were delightful little mini-pies. Each crustlet has some herbed mushroom duxelles lining the bottom. This has a few dried cranberries plunked into it, then crumbled fresh goat cheese. Finally, some bacon bits! A nice and simple little collection of flavors.
I should add that these reheat VERY well. If you’ve got a party you’re attending, make them the night before, chill them, package them and bring along a cookie tray, wherever you’re going. Pop them back in the oven just before serving and you’ll form yourself a nice little collection of tartlet fans!
Note: Makes 24 little tarts. Recipe intended for 3 tartlets per person, for 8 people.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories: 333.94kcal
Ingredients
Almond Pie Crust
- 2 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 each egg white
- 1 tbsp melted butter
Tartlet Fillings
- 1 lb cremini or button mushrooms washed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sweet red onion very fine dice
- 4 each garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped sage divided
- 1/4 cup red wine good quality
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries coursely chopped
- 1/2 cup bacon bits
- 3/4 cup goats cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, and salt.
- Once the dried ingredients are well distributed, add the egg white and melted butter. Mix until combined and a dough has formed.
- Roll the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- While the dough relaxes, make your Mushroom Duxelles. Finely chop the mushrooms, until they are very finely diced. This can also be done in a food processor. It's not uncommon for me to use a cheese grater for mushrooms, also. The idea is to get the mushrooms very very small, but not a puree.
- In a pan over medium heat, melt your butter. Add your garlic and onions. Sweat them until they are aromatic and starting to become translucent. About 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan. Add a flavorful amount of salt and pepper to this mixture. Also add half of your fresh sage.
- Cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, or until all the water begins to release from the mushrooms. The mixture will become almost "soupy". At this point, add your red wine.
- Continue to cook the mushrooms, until they are almost a paste. Set aside to cool.
- Grease a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Place the doughball in the center of the paper. Grease a second sheet and place it above the dough. Roll the dough out until it is about 1/8-inch thin (3.2 mm).
- I have two small Teflon pans (12-cups each), which I used for this. However, this could just as easily be done in a traditional 9-inch (23 x 4 cm) pie pan. For the smaller pan, using a large cookie cutter or the lid for a round food container or bowl (something that is slightly larger than the diameter of the mini pie/tartlet pan). Test one before cutting all your rounds. Be certain the size is correct. Then, using your cookie cutter or other round object as a guide, cut out roughly 20 small tartlet rounds. Combine the remaining dough, roll it out again and cut out at least four more rounds.
- Grease the mini pie mold. Gently press each dough round into the mini pie mold.
- Place a heaping teaspoon (7 mL) of the duxelles into the base of each tartlet cup.
- Add 1/2 tsp (5 mL) of chopped dried cranberries to the tartlets.
- Add 1 tsp (5 mL) of bacon bits to the tartlets.
- Add 1 1/2 tsp (8 mL) of crumbled goat cheese to the tartlets. Season with a small dash of salt and pepper.
- Bake the tartlets until golden, roughly 25 minutes. Garnish with a small blast of fresh sage.
- Serve hot!
Nutrition
Serving: 8g | Calories: 333.94kcal | Carbohydrates: 14.07875g | Protein: 15.8925g | Fat: 26.03375g | Fiber: 4.4375g