Easy Mushroom, Onion, Spinach & Bacon Tart

The holiday season is upon us and with gatherings with family and friends taking place over the next month I wanted to create an easy but delicious recipe that you can make for festivities you have planned to host or attend.

This tart is perfect as an appetizer, or as part of a party menu. The frozen puff pastry in the freezer aisle makes this easy, all you need to do is make the topping, bake and serve. It is so delicious with the decadent Gruyere, meaty mushrooms, grilled onions, spinach for some green and of course who doesn’t love a little smoky bacon. This pairs perfectly with a nice glass of wine and a great bunch of friends and family to enjoy it with!

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, defrosted as per package instructions
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (reserve 2 tsp of the bacon drippings to cook the mushrooms and onions)
• 1 package (227g/8 oz) of sliced mushrooms of your choice (I usually choose cremini, but this time my local grocery store has an amazing saute blend of white, cremini and shitake that worked really well)
• 1 cooking onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese, plus more for grating over finished tarts
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard (1 1/2 tbsp per tart)
• Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning mushrooms & onions as you cook

Directions:

1. Cook bacon, drain and remove all but 2 teaspoons of the bacon fat.
2. Cook the mushrooms and onions on medium heat until fully cooked, stirring often. Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach to wilt. Set aside until ready to add to tart.
3. Preheat oven to 400-425 degrees (temperature will be indicated on your package of puff pastry).
4. Cut two pieces of parchment paper to a rectangle of approximately 14″ x 15″, or to fit on your largest baking sheet.
5. Place defrosted puff pastry onto the parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll out to an 11″ square.
6. Using a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1″ in from the edges to mark a square. Then, using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at half-inch intervals.
7. Move parchment-lined pastry on to your baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
8. Remove pastry from oven, but keep oven on.
9. Brush the inner square of the puff pastry with an even layer of the Dijon mustard.
10. Sprinkle 1 cup of gruyere over the mustard.
11. Sprinkle over bacon, reserving 2 tbsp for final garnish (1 tbsp per tart).
12. Top each tart with the mushroom, onion and spinach mixture.
13. Place tarts back into the oven for 6-8 minutes.
14. Garnish finished tart by grating a little more gruyere on top, then sprinkling with the reserved crumbled bacon.
15. Cut each tart into 9 equal portions for 18 slices total.

Note: you can also reserve half of the mushroom mixture if you do not need to make 2 tarts, and keep for another tart another day, or use to make an omelette or mix into pasta sauce!