Mushroom Tart on Sourdough Crust

Sautéed mushrooms, garlic, parsley, egg and cream on a rich sourdough crust, a wonderful dish. The tart tastes best with a mix of fresh flavorful mushrooms like chanterelles, morels, porcini and maybe a few shiitakes, but can also be prepared with dried mushrooms.

See the Notes section for a non-sourdough version. This dish can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon and replacing the chicken stock.

Ingredients

Sourdough Crust

• 1 tbsp sourdough starter culture
• 4½ oz / 140 g bread flour
• 4½ fl oz / 140 ml water
• 11 oz / 330 g bread flour
• 2 oz / 60 g rye flour
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup / 60 ml milk
• ¼ tsp vegetable oil

Mushroom Filling

• 3-4 oz / 90-120 g dried mushrooms or 1 - 1¼ lb / 500-600 g fresh mushrooms
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter
• ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup / 125 ml dry white wine
• ½ cup / 125 ml chicken stock

Egg, Cream and Parsley Mixture

• 2 eggs
• 4 fl oz / 120 ml cream
• 2½ fl oz / 75 ml sour cream
• 1 cup of chopped parsley
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 drops of white truffle oil (optional)

Other Items

• 1 tsp butter to grease the pan
• 1 oz / 30 g bacon, cut into small cubes
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil to brush the crust

Preparation

Sourdough

1. Combine 4½ fl oz / 140 ml water with 4½ oz / 140 g flour and 1 tbsp of sourdough starter culture in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Cover and let develop overnight in a warm place until the mixture is very bubbly.
3. Add bread flour, rye flour, egg, melted butter, salt and milk. Mix and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. It should neither be sticky nor dry; you may need to add some flour or milk to adjust the consistency.
4. Form into a ball, coat with vegetable oil and let rise until the volume has doubled. Depending on the temperature and activity of the culture this may take a few hours.

Mushroom Filling

1. If you are using dried mushrooms, rinse and soak per instructions.
2. Set a heavy pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and butter. Cook the onion until it is soft and translucent.
3. Add the garlic and the mushrooms.
4. Cook over medium-high to high heat until the mushrooms just start to soften. Add white wine, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Cook until the liquid is almost gone.

Assembling and Baking

1. Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C.
2. Whisk together cream, sour cream, eggs, pepper and salt. Stir in chopped parsley.
3. Grease a large pizza pan (14 in / 35 cm diameter) with 1 tsp of butter.
4. Stretch out or roll out the dough and place it on the pizza pan. The dough should be relatively thin at the bottom of the pan but have a thick rim around the edge. Let rise for 15 minutes.
5. Spread out the mushroom filling on the dough. Pour the egg, cream and parsley mixture over the mushrooms. Sprinkle with bacon cubes.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes. When the crust just starts to brown, brush it with olive oil.
7. Serve hot.

Notes

• For a vegetarian version, omit the bacon and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock, mushroom soaking water (if you used dried mushrooms) or plain water.
• To use commercial yeast, replace the 1 tbsp of sourdough starter with 1 packet of active dry yeast dissolved in a bit of milk. Then add ½ tsp of sugar to the recipe and skip step 2.

Yields 1 mushroom tart (about 4-6 servings)

This recipe is the result of a long phone conversation with my Mom on how to best prepare a mushroom tart. Note that this recipe has many similarities with my recipe for Zwiebelkuchen.