Autumn is officially underway so we are celebrating the marvellous mushroom with a baked polenta tart with sautéed mushrooms recipe.
Serves 4
Polenta tart base
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter for cooking
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup coarse polenta
- 500ml vegetable or chicken stock
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 1/2 tsp rosemary leaves
- Cracked pepper to taste
- Sea salt to taste
Tart toppings
- 1 red onion thinly sliced into half moons
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 150g (1 bunch) English spinach, rinsed, ripped into smaller pieces
- 150g Swiss Brown mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 100g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 100g marinated goats cheese
- Unsalted butter for cooking
- Sea salt to taste
To serve
- Parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 35cm pie tin and set aside.
Warm up a heavy base medium saucepan to medium heat, add a knob of butter. Once the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and sauté until it turns a light golden colour. Add the polenta and stir thoroughly to coat in butter.
Gradually pour in the stock while continually stirring to prevent lumps forming. Once the polenta thickens and the grains soften, add the grated parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, pinch of salt and a good amount of cracked pepper.
Remove from the heat and turn the polenta out into the pie tin.Using a spatula, level out the polenta and allow for a nice thick side crust (the pie crust is meant to be thicker than a traditional pastry crust). Trim off any excess.
Place the tart casing in the oven to cook for 25-30 minutes or until it becomes crispy and a darker golden colour.
To cook the caramelised onion, add a knob of butter to a heavy base frying pan. Add the thinly sliced red onion and allow to sweat down, stirring until the onions become translucent and soft.
Add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and stir through. Cook for a further 5 minutes while the sugar dissolves and the balsamic vinegar caramelises. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In the same fry pan on medium heat add a small knob of butter and the English spinach. Sauté until it becomes soft and wilted, remove from the heat and set aside.
Using the same fry pan, add a knob of butter followed by the sliced mushrooms and the thyme. Sauté until the mushrooms become tender and juicy. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To fill the tart, spread out the caramelised onion across the base. Follow with the wilted spinach and top with the sautéed mushrooms. Finish off with spoonfuls of marinated goat’s cheese, a drizzle of the oil from the cheese and a sprinkle of fresh parsley over the top.
Serve warm straight away.
Recipe and image courtesy of Australian Mushrooms; australianmushrooms.com.au
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