Wild Mushroom Tart, Two Ways: Herbed Ricotta-Chèvre with Two Pestos, or Spinach, Caramelized Onion, and Balsamic
A savory tart with a crisp, golden nut-and-seed crust, filled with a creamy herbed ricotta and chèvre custard and crowned with golden sautéed wild mushrooms. It's finished with spoonfuls of sun-dried tomato pesto and bright green herb pesto, and served with a salad of mixed greens and fresh herbs. Or try the variation below: a herbed cream cheese filling layered with spinach, caramelized onions, king trumpet mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes, finished with a balsamic glaze. Both use the same crust.
Yield: One 9-inch tart, 6–8 slices · Active: 45 min · Total: 1 hr 30 min · Best in North America in fall, when wild mushrooms like chanterelles and maitake are in season (cultivated mushrooms work year-round) · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Ingredients
Nut-and-seed herb crust
1½ cups almond flour
½ cup walnuts, finely ground
¼ cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds, finely ground
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried), plus 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pasture-raised egg
Herbed ricotta-chèvre filling
8 oz whole-milk ricotta
4 oz soft goat cheese (chèvre), at room temperature (or use all ricotta, or all chèvre)
2 pasture-raised eggs
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs, finely chopped (chives, parsley, and thyme)
1 small garlic clove, grated
Zest of ½ lemon
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper
Wild mushrooms
12 oz mixed mushrooms (chanterelle, maitake, oyster, shiitake, or cremini), torn or sliced
2 tbsp grass-fed ghee
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Sun-dried tomato pesto
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (oil-packed and drained, or dry-packed and soaked 15 minutes in warm water)
¼ cup almonds or walnuts, toasted
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp dried oregano
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Green herb pesto
1 cup fresh basil (or parsley, in fall and winter)
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup walnuts or pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 small garlic clove
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Mixed greens and herb salad
4 cups mixed baby greens
1 cup fresh tender herbs (parsley, dill, chives, chervil, or mint)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of salt
Method
Make the crust. Heat the oven to 350°F. Mix the crust ingredients into a soft dough, then press it evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick the bottom with a fork and par-bake 12–15 minutes, until lightly golden. Let it cool slightly.
Cook the mushrooms. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms in a single layer (in batches if needed) and leave them 3–4 minutes, until golden, then stir and cook until all their liquid has evaporated. Add the shallot, garlic, thyme, and salt and cook 2 minutes more. Cooking off all the moisture keeps the tart from turning soggy.
Make the filling. Whisk the ricotta, chèvre, eggs, Parmigiano, herbs, garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper until smooth.
Assemble and bake. Spread the filling into the par-baked crust, scatter the mushrooms over the top, and press them in lightly. Bake 25–30 minutes, until the filling is set, with just a slight wobble in the center, and the edges are golden. Let it cool 15 minutes before slicing.
Make both pestos. For each, pulse everything except the olive oil in a food processor, then stream in the oil until loose and spoonable.
Dress the salad. Toss the greens and herbs with the olive oil, lemon, and salt just before serving.
Serve. Dollop the tart with spoonfuls of both pestos, slice, and serve with the herb salad and extra pesto on the side.
The Variation: Spinach, Caramelized Onion, and Balsamic Mushroom Tart
Use the same nut-and-seed herb crust, and swap in these fillings and toppings.
Herbed cream cheese filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 pasture-raised eggs
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped (chives, parsley, and thyme)
1 small garlic clove, grated
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper
Toppings
1 large onion, thinly sliced and slowly caramelized in 1 tbsp grass-fed butter over medium-low heat, 25–30 minutes, until deep golden
8 oz king trumpet mushrooms, sliced into thick coins (or mixed mushrooms), seared in grass-fed ghee until golden and all their liquid has evaporated
3 cups baby spinach, wilted in a dry skillet, then squeezed very dry in a towel
⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
Balsamic glaze
Simmer ½ cup aged balsamic vinegar of Modena in a small saucepan over medium-low heat 8–12 minutes, until reduced by half and syrupy. It thickens more as it cools. (Many store-bought glazes add sugar, caramel color, or thickeners, so homemade is best.)
What else to add
Crumbled goat cheese or shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on top
Toasted walnuts or pine nuts, for crunch
A handful of fresh arugula, piled on just before serving, for a peppery contrast
Fresh thyme leaves and flaky salt
Crispy shallots (thinly sliced shallots fried in ghee until golden)
Method
Make and par-bake the crust as directed in the main recipe.
Caramelize the onion and sear the mushrooms. Wilt the spinach and squeeze it completely dry.
Make the filling. Whisk the filling ingredients until smooth, and spread it into the par-baked crust.
Layer and bake. Layer the spinach over the filling, then scatter the caramelized onions, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. Bake at 350°F for 25–30 minutes, until set with a slight wobble in the center.
Make the balsamic glaze while it bakes.
Finish. Cool 15 minutes, then drizzle with balsamic glaze and add your toppings.
A note on spinach: Squeezing it completely dry after wilting is the key to a crisp crust and a filling that sets, since spinach holds a lot of water.
Make ahead: Bake either tart up to 1 day ahead and serve it at room temperature or gently rewarmed at 325°F for 10–15 minutes. Both pestos keep up to 5 days refrigerated, with olive oil poured over the top, and the balsamic glaze keeps up to 1 month.
Storage: Refrigerated up to 4 days.
A note on wild mushrooms: Only eat wild mushrooms from a trusted forager, farmers' market, or mushroom grower. Never forage without an expert, since some poisonous mushrooms closely resemble edible ones.
Nourishment Notes
Wild mushrooms — ergothioneine, beta-glucans, B vitamins, and copper. Maitake is especially rich in beta-glucans.
Ricotta and chèvre — protein, calcium, and, in the chèvre, mostly A2-type casein.
Cream cheese — vitamins A and K2 from grass-fed dairy.
Pasture-raised eggs — choline, lutein, and vitamins A, D, E, and K2.
Almonds, walnuts, and seeds — vitamin E, magnesium, and, in the walnuts, ALA omega-3s.
Spinach — folate, magnesium, iron, and vitamin K.
Onions — quercetin and prebiotic fibers, made sweet and mellow by slow caramelizing.
Sun-dried tomatoes — concentrated lycopene, made more absorbable by the olive oil.
Aged balsamic — polyphenols from the grapes, concentrated by long aging.
Basil, parsley, and fresh herbs — vitamin K, apigenin, and aromatic compounds.
Parmigiano-Reggiano — calcium, K2, and protein.
For your cycle: The eggs' choline and the herbs' and spinach's folate make either tart a lovely follicular-phase lunch, and the mushrooms' B vitamins and the cheese's calcium support the luteal phase.
Sourcing
Mushrooms — wild mushrooms from a trusted forager or farmers' market in fall, or organic cultivated mushrooms, including king trumpets, from a local grower
Ricotta — whole-milk ricotta from grass-fed cows, with no gums or stabilizers, or homemade
Chèvre — a fresh farmstead goat cheese from a local dairy, organic when you can find it
Cream cheese — organic, full-fat, cultured cream cheese from grass-fed cows, with no gums
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised
Parmigiano-Reggiano — DOP, aged 24+ months, made from raw milk by law
Almond flour — organic and fresh (keep it in the fridge)
Walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, and seeds — organic, kept in the fridge
Sun-dried tomatoes — organic, dry-packed or packed in extra virgin olive oil, with no sulfites
Basil, parsley, herbs, greens, arugula, spinach, onions, shallots, garlic, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market
Aged balsamic vinegar — of Modena (IGP or DOP), with no added sugar or caramel color
Red wine vinegar — organic and naturally fermented
Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows; grass-fed ghee
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall