My kitchen is cluttered and I am not proud of that. It has started quite innocently – just a few magazines neatly stacked up in the corner. I was totally planning to read them, try recipes and recycle them afterwards. Until I didn’t. Next month came and with it next round of magazines. I told myself that I can still do it! Last month was kind of busy but I should have some more time next week to catch up with my reading and cooking. Guess what, it didn’t work out this way. But since I often live in denial for quite a while until I do something about it I kept kidding myself and before I knew it I had this nice pile and an another one just right next to it. And some mail. And a sippy cup. And some lonely coins. And some puffs. And many other things that somehow didn’t make it to the shelf/drawer or other room. Some of these things are just new so I don’t have a place for them yet. Sippy cup or a bib. Where people keep them anyway?
I feel the clutter weighing on my shoulders. Every day a little bit more. But let me tell you that this is a happy feeling because it means that soon I’ll just get rid of it.
I’ve started thinking about my cluttered countertops because I am looking at this recipe in my binder and I don’t know from where it came from. It is a magazine clipping and the binder itself is the result of one of my decluttering binges I had in the past. It looks great, I just didn’t note the source of the recipes I pasted. It is not a lost cause though – there is a book recap just below the picture and I think it is safe to assume that this tart may have come from it. Oh, wait. It is by Martha Stewart Living. Mystery solved I guess. The book is called Meatless.
This was embarrassing.
The tart. If goat cheese is your thing you’ll like it. If not, I would still recommend trying it, just maybe use ricotta instead. It will be tasty but with much milder flavor. Not a fan of phyllo? Want something quicker? Puff pastry or pie crust will do, although you’ll lose some of the “light look” of the tart. If that’s important. Versatility and easiness to adjust to one’s taste is something I like about it. It may be a bit lengthy for a first-timers, but shouldn’t take more that 2 hours from start to table and once you know the recipe it will be a breeze.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound mushrooms – use variety you like best (I used white and shiitake mushrooms)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil + 1 tablespoon
- 1 bunch scallions (~12 pieces)
- 3 1/2 cups fresh spinach (~2 bunches)
- 6 oz. fresh goat cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons chopped dill
- 10 sheets frozen phyllo, thawed
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Clean and slice mushrooms. Transfer to a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread mushrooms in a single layer and roast for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime trim the scallions and chop them into ~2 inch pieces.
- Add scallions to the mushrooms and roast for additional 15 minutes.
- In the meantime trim, stem and wash spinach. Pat dry it.
- Move mushrooms and scallions to the side and place spinach on the empty space. Roast until wilted – about 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
- Prepare the shell: brush the bottom of a tart pan* with olive oil.
- Brush a sheet of phyllo dough** with olive oil and transfer the sheet to the tart pan. Continue with remaining sheets of phyllo.
- Weigh down center of the tart with some aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 3-5 minutes longer, until entire shell is golden brown.
- In the meantime in a food processor blend goat cheese, milk and eggs. Add salt and dill and pulse few times to combine.
- Remove the shell from the oven. Reduce the temperature to 375°F.
- Spread vegetable over the crust – start with spinach, lay mushrooms and scallions on top of it.
- Pour the custard over it and return tart to the oven.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until custard sets. Remove from the oven and let it cool for ~10 minutes.
- Remove from the tart pan. Tastes great warm and at room temperature.
- Enjoy!
*One with removable bottom will work best.
**Working with phyllo dough may be tricky. This is what works best for me: lay the sheets on the counter, cover with clean kitchen cloth (dry) and lay wet kitchen cloth over it to keep the dough from drying.
Yield: ~4 portions
Nutritional Info: Cal 480, Prot 25g, Carb 38g, Fat 27g, Fiber 6g
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