Wild mushroom tart (gluten-free)

A mixture of rehydrated dried mushrooms and fresh wild mushrooms, cooked down slowly for intensity of flavour, makes a wonderful tart/quiche. Second only to a cheese and onion quiche for me, this is great served warm for so many occasions when good comfort food is the prder of the day.

Wild mushroom tart

I have been making this tart for many years, but over the years I have upped the mushroom flavour: rehydrating a few dried mushrooms in hot milk and puréeing some of the mixture achieves a seriously wonderful depth of flavour.

Some wild mushrooms, sautéed in just a little butter with some garlic and chopped parsley, can be scattered on top just before serving.

To a blind-baked pastry case, with the pastry this time made with gluten-free flour, I use the following filling and bake for about 30 minutes at 140C (fan): the low temperature helps it bake and set to a very soft texture.

Variations:

The filling is also excellent as a filling for mini tartlets for canapés or as part of a savoury Afternoon Tea.

You can make the tart lighter by using semi-skimmed milk in place of the cream.

The use of diary-free milk and margarine works very well here, without sacrificing flavour.

Wild mushroom tart filling: enough for one large tart

• 400g fresh wild mushrooms, any mixture, finely chopped
• 50g dried wild mushrooms
• splash of Madeira
• 200ml milk
• 150ml single cream
• 4 large egg yolks plus one whole egg
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• a few leaves of fresh tarragon
• salt and freshly milled pepper
• a knob of butter

(1) Put the milk and the dried mushrooms in a small pan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to cool. Strain these rehydrated mushrooms well and roughly chop, but keep the milk for later: it has a wonderfully intense mushroom flavour that will enhance the filling.

(2) Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the onions and garlic. Cook very gently for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the fresh mushrooms and a little seasoning and sauté gently for about 15 minutes.

(3) Add the Maderia and cook out for a few minutes before adding the rehydrated mushrooms. Continue to sauté for a further 15-20 minutes: the mushroom mixture will have shrunk somewhat but will have a very strong flavour which is needed here.

(4) Whisk the reserved mushroom-flavoured milk, the eggs, egg yolks and the cream together with a little seasoning. Put about a third of the mushroom mixture with some of the egg mixture into a blender and purée: this ramps up the mushroom flavour even more! Mix this purée with the rest of the egg mixture and the mushrooms. Pour into the baked pastry case and bake at 140C(fan) for about 30 minutes until just set: it should still have a very slight wobble.