Three cheese, mushroom and saucisson sec puff pastry tart

For many of us in charge of cooking for the holiday table, these days are anything but calm and relaxing. For some, they are filled with anxiety and frustration because, let’s not kid ourselves, having to cook for a large number of people is not a piece of cake no matter how experienced you are. And if you are a perfectionist? Well, then you really are screwed.

Being kind to yourself and letting go of the stress and the need to be perfect is key to enjoying the fruit of your labors. Besides, you are not doing this only for your guests, but for yourself too! And believe me, your guests are there for you, not for your food.

For me, the secret to surviving these frantic, crazy days of celebrations and dinner parties is to cook easy, tried and tested dishes that you know will satisfy your guests and that will not keep you captive in the kitchen for hours. One such dish is a savory puff pastry tart.

This one with three different kinds of cheeses, mushrooms and saucisson sec is really delicious. Earthy, sweet, salty, spicy, creamy, crisp and buttery, with flaky and crispy puff pastry, spicy and salty salami, rich and slightly tangy crème fraîche, earthy mushrooms with deep, umami flavor, and with each cheese —mild Brie, creamy Gruyère and intense Grana Padano— giving its own character to the tart creating an exquisite combination of flavors and textures.

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year, with lots of tasty adventures.

Three cheese, mushroom and saucisson sec puff pastry tart

I used a variety of mushrooms (shiitake, chestnut, chanterelles, white and brown shimeji) because I enjoy the different textures and flavors they give the tart but you could use any kind of fresh mushrooms you can find.

You can use any other dry-cured pork salami if you can’t find saucisson sec with pepper (French dry-cured pork sausage).

For those of you living in Greece, you can substitute if you want the Gruyère with Greek Graviera, and the Grana Padano with Greek Kefoltyri. The flavors are not exactly the same but they are close.

Yield: 1 tart / 6-8 pieces

Ingredients
1 homemade or store-bought puff pastry sheet (about 270 g), trimmed to a 37 x 25 cm rectangle
1 red onion (about 100 g), sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, mashed
2 Tbsp olive oil
50 g Gruyère, finely grated
50 g Grana Padano, finely grated
125 ml crème fraîche, full-fat
1 medium-sized egg
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
250 g assorted fresh mushrooms
Grated lemon zest, from 1 small lemon
3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked
7-8 slices saucisson sec with pepper (or any other salami you prefer)

1 small egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for glazing the pastry

20 g Brie, cut into small pieces

A little olive oil, for drizzling on top of the tart
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs, to garnish

Special equipment: baking sheet, baking paper, pastry brush


Preparation
In a small frying pan heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and sauté the onions over low heat, stirring frequently, until they are very soft, for about 8 minutes. One minute before they are done, add the garlic. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the pan.

Place your trimmed puff pastry rectangle (37 x 25 cm) on a large piece of baking paper that is set on top of a baking sheet. Using a knife, lightly score a 3 cm frame around the pastry, being careful not to cut all the way down, and place it in the fridge.

In a large bowl, add the cooled onions and garlic, the grated Gruyère and Grana Padano, the crème fraîche, the medium-sized egg and a little black pepper and mix well with a spoon to combine. Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Slice the mushrooms (if you’re using enoki and shimeji, you don’t need to slice them because they are very small) and add them to a large bowl together with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, the grated lemon zest, the picked leaves from 3 fresh thyme sprigs, a little salt and black pepper. Toss well to mix.

Take the puff pastry and the cheese-egg-crème fraîche mixture out of the fridge and spread the cheese mixture evenly inside the frame of the pastry. Top with ¾ of the mushroom mixture (keep the rest ¼ of the mushrooms in the bowl) making sure to spread them around the pastry evenly. In between the mushrooms tuck in the saucisson slices.

Return the pastry in the fridge, for 10 minutes.

Note: I do this in order for the puff pastry to be super chilled before it goes in the oven to ensure that it puffs up correctly. Room temperature puff pastry doesn’t puff up as well as a very chilled one.

Brush the frame of the pastry with the beaten egg and place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake the tart for about 30 minutes. After the initial 15 minutes of baking, scatter the rest of the mushroom mixture on top of the tart. Five minutes before the tart is ready, scatter the Brie pieces around the top of the tart.

The tart is done when the pastry has puffed up and has taken on a golden color, the filling has cooked and the cheeses have melted evenly.

Note: The reason I add some of the mushrooms after the tart has been baking for 15 minutes is because the filling puffs up and some of the mushrooms get buried inside it. By adding some of the mushrooms later, firstly you achieve different textures and secondly the mushrooms remain visible and your tart is more visually appealing.

Remove the tart from the oven, drizzle with some olive oil and garnish with 3-4 thyme sprigs.
Serve the tart immediately cut into pieces.

Garlic bread with herbs

Bread is my weakness. I couldn’t live without it even if I tried and my main meals have to include at least one slice or I can’t enjoy them. I’m not ashamed to say that I eat bread even with pasta or potatoes. Starch on starch. I know, shame on me, but I can’t help it.

I love making my own bread, as these recipes attest, but what I love even more is using it to make garlic bread, like this rustic one with herbs; because another thing that I can’t live without is garlic.

This is seriously good and seriously addictive and if you too are a bread lover like me, then I suggest you be careful when you make this or you may end up eating the whole loaf on your own.

It’s so easy to make; you slice the loaf into thick slices but not all the way down because you want to keep it in one piece, you mix some extra virgin olive oil with some good butter and the ever present Greek dried oregano, and slather each slice with the mixture. In between the slices you gently tuck some fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs, you wrap the loaf with aluminum foil and off it goes in the oven. You remove the foil to crisp it up a bit and voilà. The best garlic bread ever.

It has a crispy crust and a soft and moist crumb from the butter and olive oil, and it is deeply flavorful. The garlic is present yet not overpowering, while the herbs give a woody flavor and aroma. It is perfect as an accompaniment to Christmas meats (turkey, ham etc.) but also perfect with grilled steaks, burgers or lamb chops.

Garlic bread with herbs
Adapted from here

This is perfect warm from the oven, sliced and served at the table on a nice wooden board or on a big platter.

The quantities for this recipe are for a loaf of bread that is about 10 slices.

Yield: 1 garlic bread (about 10 slices)

Ingredients
1 loaf of crusty country bread (I used my own rye country bread)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed
100 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
45 ml (3 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Greek dried oregano
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Special equipment: large serrated knife, aluminum foil


Preparation
Preheat your oven to 200°C.

In a small plate or bowl, add the butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and using a fork mix everything to combine.

Using a large serrated knife cut the bread into thick-ish slices. Be careful not to go all the way down because you need the loaf to stay as a whole and the slices to stay attached at the bottom.

Using a butter knife, spread the butter-garlic mixture generously on both sides of each slice being careful not to detach the slices.
Tuck the thyme and rosemary sprigs in between the slices.

Wrap the loaf well with one large piece of aluminum foil and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the temperature up to 225°C, take the bread out of the oven, unwrap the foil to expose the top crust of the bread and return in the oven to crisp up the top, for further 10 minutes.

Note: Not all breads are the same, some have more moisture in them than others so after the initial 20 minutes of baking, unwrap and check if your bread is crispy on top. If it is, there’s no need to bake further. If it’s not crispy on top, then continue baking on the higher temperature for 10 more minutes.

Remove from the oven, discard the aluminum foil and serve immediately. Remove the herbs from in between the slices before eating. This bread is best served warm, but I’d never say not to it when it’s at room temperature either.

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

Greek holidays are not for vegetarians. We celebrate with lots of food, mostly meat, and especially on Easter (Orthodox Easter is this Sunday), the food is for hard-core carnivores and not for the faint-hearted.

We roast a whole lamb on a spit, we make kokoretsi (lamb’s liver and lungs wrapped with lamb’s intestines), kontosouvli (pork neck pieces on a spit), sausages, fried veal liver and so on and so forth, you get the picture. In case you don’t, check out this post in which I shared some photos from my Easter in Greece two years ago.

There’s always a need for something fresh on the table alongside all that meat, like salads, legume dishes and pites (Greek pies). You know I love making pites, small or large, but I also love making galettes, like this one I made the other day using the wild asparagus I raved on about in my last post.

It would make a perfect side dish for the Easter table or any other occasion really. It would also make a perfect light lunch or dinner to pair with a glass of wine and eat outside. Have you noticed how the days are getting warmer and warmer?

The pastry, which is partly made with whole wheat flour, is smeared with a mixture of Greek yoghurt and ricotta and then topped with wild asparagus that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. After baking, the asparagus are drizzled with some more extra virgin olive oil that makes them glisten and even more irresistible than they already are.

The flavors of the fresh and mildly bitter wild asparagus mingle with the sweet and smooth creaminess of the ricotta-yoghurt and the short, crumbly and buttery base that melts in your mouth and that has an earthy quality which pairs beautifully with the wild asparagus. A knockout spring tart.

Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my fellow Greeks and to all those who celebrate!

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

If you’re in Greece, you can substitute the ricotta with anthotyro.
If you can't find wild asparagus, you can substitute them with slender green asparagus spears.

The pastry can be made one or two days in advance and kept in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap.

Yield: 1 galette / 6 pieces

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
130 g whole-wheat flour
130 g all-purpose flour
170 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
60 ml (4 Tbsp) cold water

for the filling
150 g Greek yoghurt 2% fat
150 g ricotta cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200 g wild asparagus

1 small egg, beaten, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking paper, baking sheet, pastry brush


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flours, cold cubed butter and salt and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a rough dough. Don’t over mix.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until you have a rough dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to form a smooth dough. Don’t knead too much or vigorously. Shape it into a ball and then a flattened disk. Wrap it with a large piece of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours.

for the filling
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling.
Add yoghurt, ricotta, a little salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Rinse the asparagus under cold running water and snap off the woody parts at the bottom end. In order to do that, take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger, holding the top half with your other hand, and bend it until it snaps. It will automatically snap at the part where the woody part ends and the tender part starts. This snapping point will be lower or higher depending on the spear.
Cut the asparagus in half if they are too long and place them in a bowl. Toss them with salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an approximately 35cm round, with a 3mm thickness. The dough should be somewhat pliable yet it will be a little stiff. (If it tends to break apart when you roll it out, let it warm a bit before you try again). Remove the top baking paper and place the rolled out dough, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a baking sheet.
Smear ¾ of the yoghurt-ricotta filling evenly on top of the dough, leaving a space around the edges of the pastry, about 4cm. See photo for reference.
Top with the asparagus and fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the dough over the filling.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35-37 minutes until the pastry takes on a golden-brown color and the asparagus look a bit charred.
Take the galette out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the filling with a little olive oil.
Optionally, you can top it with some freshly grated lemon zest or even a grating of parmesan.

Serve with the remaining yoghurt-ricotta filling on the side.

You can keep the galette for a day or two, covered, at room temperature, but it is best eaten the same day.

Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

When I get the flu, a cold and the like, I usually am a pretty calm and patient person. I sit on the couch with my hot cup of tea and a big packet of tissues and I’m as quiet as a mouse.

As the days pass and the damn cold, flu etc. refuses to go away no matter how many glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice I have drank or how many soups I’ve eaten, well, then things change just a tiny bit.

I gradually become more and more impatient, I get cranky and a real bitch sometimes, every little thing bothers me and S needs to have nerves of steel to be able to cope with me.

Until the moment when I get noticeably better, I’m not ashamed to admit, the nagging goes on and on. In the case, however, that S is the one with the flu, then the nagging begins on day one, but that’s how it goes, doesn’t it? You have to accept the person you are with along with all of their flaws, because if you can’t handle or stand their flaws, then you won’t and can’t stand them. Because those flaws, idiosyncrasies and quirks are more evident during moments of weakness and difficult situations and of course perceivable by the people who know us, people with whom we live and share our lives, those who have seen us sick and unkempt, sad and depressed, with eyes swollen from crying, heart crushed from loss, spirit broken from failure, those who have seen us in our worst and have stood there, beside us.

Those who instead of getting upset or disappointed in us and run away from us, they run towards us and love us with greater intensity, they encourage us, make us laugh, embrace us so tightly that the warmth and sense of security brings us back to life, they lift us up not with words but with their actions, loud and clear. They endure not only us, but all that we sometimes don’t want to or can’t bear. If it’s not like that, then you are not with the right person and if you’re not willing to be like that with your partner, then you still haven’t found the right person for you.

I don’t need to search for the right person for me, I have already found him, and one mistake I never want to make is take him and all that he does for me for granted. I always try to please him in every way I can, not only because he stands by me during difficult times, but because he does so effortlessly.

One of the ways I please him is with my cooking and it shouldn’t come as a surprise because S loves good food. So when I felt a little better and I could cook something more than plain spaghetti or soup, I made this beetroot hummus that S loves. Apart from its delicious flavor we both love its color. Isn’t it fantastic?

I have been making this hummus for years yet nowhere as often as I should, because as a food blogger I always search for the next thing to make, forgetting about the recipes I love. The last couple of times I made it, I served it with spicy roasted chickpeas and it was incredibly good.

If you haven’t made spicy roasted chickpeas before then you’re missing out. Apart from being utterly delicious they are healthy, easy and quick to make and totally addictive. And of course any leftovers, you can have as a snack in front of the tv.
So do try the hummus and chickpeas this weekend!

As for all you Greeks out there, this hummus is the best side dish to serve at your Kathari Deutera (Clean/Ash Monday) table along with these:
Lagana (Greek Lenten yeasted flatbread)
Taramosalata
Melitzanosalata (Greek Smoky Eggplant Dip)
Greek braised octopus with short pasta (and how to clean and prep octopus)
Greek octopus with vinegar, olive oil and dried oregano
Midopilafo (Greek mussel pilaf) and How to clean and prep mussels
Sautéed shrimps with tahini and garlic sauce and a sumac, cumin seed and pistachio dukkah
Greek fried calamari
And more Lenten recipes

Have a great Kathari Deutera!

Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

You can use either boiled or roasted beets to make this hummus. I used boiled beetroot here, but in this recipe I had used roasted beetroot and it was amazing.

In Greece we eat roasted, salted chickpeas called stragalia (στραγάλια) as a snack, but this spicy version is the best.
You can play around with the recipe to your liking. Adding turmeric, cardamom or other spices and various dried herbs will change the flavor profile of the chickpeas. You can serve them not only with this hummus or other dips, but also on top of soups or salads.

Yield: 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

for the beetroot hummus
4 raw beetroots (about 600 g), tops and stalks cut off
250 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 garlic clove, finely grated
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

A handful fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

for the roasted chickpeas
260 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón de la Vera, dulce)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder

Pita breads, toasted, to serve

Special equipment: large food processor, baking tray, baking paper


Preparation

for the beetroot hummus
Scrub the beetroots under cold running water with your hands and place them in a medium-sized pan. Fill the pan with cold water to cover the beetroots completely and put on the lid. Place pan on high heat and bring to the boil. Boil the beetroots for about 40 minutes or until they become tender and you can easily insert a knife into them.

Drain them in a colander, leave them to cool and when they are cool enough to handle, peel them with a knife carefully. You don’t want to take too much of the beetroot away, only the skin which is pretty easy to peel off as it comes away very easily.
Cut the beetroots into pieces and leave them to cool completely.

Place them along with the rest of the ingredients for the hummus into the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. Also check if it needs more olive oil or lemon, adjusting to have the desired flavor and consistency. It shouldn’t be runny nor stodgy and it should have a tang, not be too sweet.

Empty it in a bowl.
You can keep it in the refrigerator, in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap for up to 5 days. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving and stir it very well with a spoon or spatula to make it creamy and to fluff it up.

for the roasted chickpeas
Preheat your oven to 200ºC.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Take your cooked chickpeas and rub them with paper towels to remove the skins. If you’re using canned chickpeas, dry them first. Discard the skins and transfer the chickpeas to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to mix well.
Transfer chickpeas to the baking paper-lined baking tray and spread so they are in one layer.

Place them in the middle rack of the preheated oven and roast them for 35-40 minutes, until they are golden brown and crunchy, checking them every 10 minutes to make sure they don’t burn and tossing them a bit.

If you try them straight out of the oven they may seem not crunchy enough, but once they cool they will crisp up a lot! Keep that in mind and don’t be tempted to roast them for longer or they will be rock hard when cool and you won’t be able to eat them.

You can keep them in an airtight container for weeks.

serve the hummus
Place the hummus in a large bowl and drizzle with some olive oil.
Mix some of the roasted chickpeas with some finely chopped dill leaves and scatter over the top.
Serve with pita bread cut into triangle shapes and enjoy!