Hedgehog Mushroom, Leek, Cheddar & Rosemary Tart

Wild mushrooms, baby leeks, fresh rosemary,  and aged cheddar suspended in savory custard, encased in flaky pastry.

Every Saturday morning, almost year-round, I hit the table of foraged mushrooms that begin my photo shoot through Portland Farmers Market.

Recently I succumbed to the hedgehogs. And before I even handed over the moola, my inner muse decided they would make a lovely quiche–AKA open-faced, savory custard tart.

So then a quick jaunt around the market to see what might be nice with them–and voila, baby leeks and rosemary.

This is how recipes are created in the OtherWorldly Kitchen–on the fly at the local farmers market. What a fun way to cook.

Now just about everything I’ve discovered over the years about making a PERFECT quiche is already included in Baby Leek, Cheddar & Rosemary Tart.

Ditto for PERFECT short crust pastry in Quick & Easy, Flaky, All Butter, Short-Crust Pastry.

So no need to reiterate those techniques in depth here. If you want to master the art of the savory custard tart, I encourage you to read them both.

Hedgehog Mushroom, Leek, Cheddar & Rosemary Tart

Hedgehog mushrooms have a lovely, almost mysterious, nutty flavor, which is noticeably deeper than typical cultivated button mushrooms. The only downside I discovered to using them is that they disintegrate if overcooked.

9- to 10-inch, deep-dish, partially prebaked LunaCafe’s Quick & Easy, Flakey, All Butter, Short-Crust Pastry or your favorite pastry (4-6 cup capacity)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium-large leeks, trimmed and sliced crosswise (white and light green portions only) (9 ounces or 4 cups sliced)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 ounces cleaned, trimmed, sliced hedgehog or chanterelle mushrooms
2 cups cream (or half and half)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons, peeled, minced garlic
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh rosemary
3 ounces grated, aged cheddar (about 2 loosely packed cups)
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan (about 1/3 cup)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1. Allow the partially baked pastry (in the pan) to cool on a wire rack.
2. To prepare oven, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F.
3. To prepare leeks, in a large sauté pan, melt the butter and slowly cook the leek and garlic until translucent and tender, without browning. Remove from the heat.
4. To prepare mushrooms, in a small sauté pan, over medium-high heat, melt the butter and quickly cook the mushrooms to release their liquid. After a minute or so, they will have shrunk considerable. With a slotted spoon, remove to a bowl. (Don’t overcook hedgehogs, as they tend to disintegrate.) Reduce the liquid in the pan to 2 tablespoons and pour into a small bowl. Reserve.
5. To prepare custard, in a 4-cup glass measuring cup, whisk cream, eggs, garlic, and rosemary until eggs are well incorporated. Season custard well with salt and pepper. Taste to ensure the seasoning is adequate.
6. To fill tart, sprinkle a little cheese over the bottom of the pastry shell (melting it quickly under a broiler if you like, to help ensure a crisp bottom crust), and then evenly distribute the leek mixture over the top.
7. Pour custard over leek mixture, taking care not to overfill. Leave ¼- to ½-inch top edge clearance. (If there is custard remaining, fill a ramekin or two and bake in a bain-marie at a later time.)
8. Sprinkle top of quiche with remaining cheese.
9. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes. The top will look set but will NOT be fully domed at the center. Overbaking the custard causes it to curdle.
10. Remove quiche from oven and cool on a wire rack, allowing at least 10 minutes of set-up time before cutting. (Actually, quiche tastes best when cooled just a bit.)
11. Remove rim of quiche pan and cut into eight wedges to serve. (Because of the delicate pastry, I find it better to cut through the top edge with a serrated bread knife, changing to a flat-bladed knife to finish the bottom of each slice. This way the pastry doesn’t break or shatter.

Serves 6-8.

More LunaCafe Savory Pies & Tarts

• Baby Greens, Green Garlic & Garlic Chive Tarts
• Baby Leek, Cheddar & Rosemary Tart
• Quick & Easy, Flaky, All Butter, Short-Crust Pastry
• Savory Apple Tart with Onion, Cheddar & Blue Cheese
• Yakima Valley Artichoke Appetizer

Copyright 2015-2021 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.