Mushroom Tartlets

Sophisticated mushrooms, aged parmesan cheese and fragrant rosemary will bring style to your next dinner party with these savoury little tartlets. Incorporating puff pastry shells also add a fanciful aesthetic to these appetizers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 package puff pastry shells, thawed
• 4 Tbsp butter, split
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, chopped (see note 1)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup aged parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 Tbsp plain yogurt or heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425º. 
2. Place the thawed pastry shells on a cookie sheet, tops up, and bake for 15 minutes (see note 2). (Timing tip: prepare filling (steps 3-5 while they are baking.)
3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter. Add the shallots, garlic, and rosemary. Cook until the shallots start to become translucent (about 2-3 minutes).
4. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper to the skillet. Sauté until the mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat and transfer the mushroom mixture into a medium mixing bowl.
5. Add to the mushroom bowl: the parmesan cheese and yogurt/cream. Mix well by hand.
6. Remove pastry shells from the oven; leave oven on. Using a fork, delicately separate the tops from the sides of the pastry shells and press them down to the bottoms of the shells (see note 3). Do not let the pastry shells cool too much.
7. Spoon the mushroom mixture into each shell, careful not to get any on the top or outer edges. Do not over fill.
8. Return tartlets to the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Watch the shells: they will begin to turn golden brown, but do not let them burn.
9. Remove from the oven. Check that the centers are hot (if not, return to oven for a couple more minutes).
10. Garnish top of these with sour cream (optional) and a slice of fresh mushroom. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. Reserve 6 slices to use as garnish on the finished tartlets. I made these with crimini mushrooms, but I can also imagine them as even tastier with portobello or shitake mushrooms. Plain white button mushrooms probably wont have enough flavour for these tartlets. (In the picture above, I overly chopped the mushrooms in the food processor. Take the time to chop them by hand to create a better texture than what is pictured above.) 
2. Read the packaging for your puff pastry shells for what temperature and length of time to bake them; bake for 5 minutes less than the instructions indicate so that they do not burn when the filling is baking in them.
3. The package directions will tell you to remove the tops and the soft pastry beneath, but I find that pressing them to the bottom works well, minimises waste, and creates a stronger bottom for the tartlets.