girl in a food frenzy

Time: approx 1:30hr (including resting time for pastry)

Ingredients:
200g shortening (I’ve used rendered Duck fat for this recipe) Lard is a similar substitute as it gives a short/flaky crumb. Alternatively Butter or Nuttlex (for Vegans) is also suitable.
250g or 1 cup of plain flour (extra required for dusting)
Pinch of salt,
Ice cold water as required.
Mushrooms sliced, fresh thyme & parsley.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Plus a little extra Butter or Nuttlex to dot tart when finishing, Ricotta (optional)

Method:

Place flour, fat and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the fat into the flour until it resembles small flakes or pieces. Alternatively, place into a processor and pulse.

Add 1Tbsp of cold water as needed, until it comes together in a ball.

Dust work bench down and get ready to roll! First rolling of dough might not be too smooth but add flour & water accordingly if it’s too dry or wet. Work as quickly and lightly as possible so as (not to) form too much gluten, which can make the pastry tough.

Take the flat disc and fold together once more. (This is known as the first turn in making rough puff, as this is for a short crust you need only repeat the step once)

Dust top and bottom of pastry and wrap in cling film for 1/2 hr on lower shelf of the fridge. Whilst pastry is resting, you can preheat the oven to 180-200C depending on how hot your oven temperature gets. Hot is ideal as the fat (will melt) and as the steam escapes it causes the beautiful flakiness in the crumb.

Prepare baking tray/lightly grease. Pre slice the mushrooms (rustic is fine,) shred the herbs and set aside. Remove pastry disc after the 1/2 hr is up and roll out to approx 1/2 cm thickness.

Scatter sliced mushrooms over tart base, dot with slivers of Butter/Nuttlex and season to taste with the salt & pepper. Crimp edges to stop the mushroom slices from escaping over the sides. Finally, bake for approx 20-25 mins.

Remove tart and set on rack to cool. Scatter with reserved parsley and thyme and a side of ricotta to add texture to the tart (optional.) Yum!