Mushroom, Courgette & Thyme Tart

This is such a super recipe and I know you will love it!  This tart packs a nutritional punch thanks to the use of mushrooms, which are a great at helping support the immune system as they increase the production of white blood cells and help fight infection.  They are also a good source of selenium, fibre, and several other vitamins and minerals.  This recipe is gluten free, protein rich and vegan.

Ingredients

Pastry

200g GF plain flour

100g vegan block

1 tsp sea salt

5 tbsp cold water

Filling

1 punnet King Oyster Mushrooms

1 punnet Baby King oyster Mushrooms

1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms

1 courgette, grated

1 red onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp cornflour

1 packet of silken tofu – I used @clearspringuk

¼ cup dairy free milk – I used @plenishdrinks oat milk

Method

8” loose bottomed flan dish

Set oven to 180c

Make the pastry first either by hand or in a food processor

Add the flour, salt and vegan block and work together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs

Add 4-5 tbsp cold water and bring together into a ball of dough

Wrap in baking parchment and place in fridge for 15mins

Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the pastry into a circle 2inches larger than the dish

Lift into the dish using the rolling pin and press dough into the dish

Bake the pastry blind by lining with baking parchment and baking beans

Cook for 10minutes then remove the beans and bake for another 10 minutes

Meanwhile make the filling, firstly keep a few mushrooms back for decoration – I used a slice of a large king oyster, 2 chestnut mushrooms thinly sliced and 2 baby king oysters cut in half 

With the remaining mushrooms blitz in a blender until finely chopped and grate the courgette

In a heavy based pan add 3 tbsp EV olive oil and sweat the onions until translucent

Add the garlic, mushrooms and courgettes and cook until soft will take around 8 minutes

While these are cooking in another frying pan heat some olive oil and gently fry the sliced mushrooms with a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook these until golden brown – set aside

When the mushroom mixture is cooked stir in the chopped thyme, ½ tsp salt and pepper

In a blender add the silken tofu, nutritional yeast and dairy free milk, some more salt & pepper and blend until smooth

Add the tofu mixture into the cooked mushroom mixture

When the pastry is cooked remove from the oven and pour the mushrooms into the pastry case

Decorate with the cooked mushrooms and bake for 40minutes or until golden 

When ready remove from the oven and leave for 10mins before carefully removing from the flan case and serving

Enjoy with a delicious crisp green salad