Ricotta Cheese Tart with Morel Mushrooms

Visions on loveliness filled with mouthwatering goodness. That's what came to mind when I saw this recipe over at CiaoChowLinda where she displayed her version from the recipe over at ProudItalianCook.

And now for my version.

I have to say, I think this is one of, if not the prettiest side dish I have ever made.

When I received my free Morel Mushrooms from Marxfood.com, I wanted to make something special with them. Btw...you can purchase fresh (when in season) as well as dried Morel Mushrooms (and lots of other mushroomy stuffs and spices and oils and a whole lot of fun food stuff) directly from MarxFood.com. Anyways....when I browsed through my "starred" recipes in my reader...I knew the second I saw this....that it was exactly what I was looking for.

CiaChowLinda made hers with ricotta cheese...ProudItalianCook made hers with goat cheese. I had ricotta on hand and went with that. I also added some sliced green onions and of course the morels. Fried morels that is. And the crust? You can use pie dough from the refrigerator section of the grocery store. I didn't have any so I made mine from a recipe out of my ancient (use to be my mother in-law's) Betty Crocker Cookbook. It started out as a plain pastry dough until.....

I added ....

wait for it.....

wait for it.........

grated parmesan cheese!!!

Oh man...was that good! It just added a yummy savory flavor to the crust.

Savory Parmesan Tart / Pie Crust
(for 8" or 9" double crust pie....I only needed one crust so the other half is in my fridge. How long is it good in there for, I wonder)

1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup'ish grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cold butter (or shortening...I used butter)
4-5 tablespoons cold water

Sift together the flour and the salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or use a fork like I did cuz my pastry blenders always get screwed up in the drawer....all bent and stuff. Pisses me off) until you get pieces that are pea sized. Or....(and this is what I did)....Cut in half of the butter until the mixture looks like corn meal. Then cut in the rest of the butter until you have those pea sized pieces. This is suppose to make the pastry extra tender and flaky.

Toss in the parmesan cheese and mix quickly, but don't try and "blend" it in...you don't want to mess with the piece sized pieces.

Sprinkle water, a tablespoon at a time, over part of the mixture. Gently mix with a fork; push to the side of the bowl. Sprinkle next tablespoon of water over dry part, mixing lightly, push to moistened part at the side. Repeat till all is moistened. Gather up the with your fingers and form a ball. Let stand several minutes.

Divide dough in half and form each half into a ball. Flatten slightly and roll on a lightly floured surface to the desired size and thickness. For a tart, roll the dough thinner than you would for a pie.

Fit into your tart pan, trimming edges. Poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork. Bake in a 450' oven for about 8 minutes.

And now for the fantabulous filling!!

Ricotta Cheese Tart with Morel Mushrooms
Printable Version

10 oz Ricotta Cheese (I think I used full fat...I'm not one to buy low fat anything. I have proof)
3 large eggs
3 green onions, chopped
A handful of Fried Morel Mushrooms (I'll talk about that in a later post) or any mushroom of your choice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Zest from one lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
Asparagus Stalks, blanched until until barely tender
4 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 slice of a medium sized tomato (the orange tomato I think made a pretty contrast in color)
1 partially cooked tart shell

Mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, green onions, fried 'shrooms, garlic, lemon zest, herb de provence, salt and pepper

Let me mention a revelation I had. About Herbs de Provence. Prior to this recipe, I had never seen nor (knowingly) tasted Herbs de Provence. I usually just substitute it out for other stuff. I decided to look up what herbs are in this mix, figuring I'd just make my own blend. I mean, I have a cupboard FULL of herbs and spices. Surely I'd have everything needed.

Until I read that lavender is one of the herbs.

Thats when I knew I needed to splurge and buy this mix. You see, I've never cooked with lavender either.

When I open the jar...and took a wiff. Ooooooh myyyyyyyyy GOSH! I mean WOW! I fell in love. The aroma IS. TO. DIE FOR! If you have a chance to buy Herbs de Provence, do it...if I recipe calls for Herbs de Provence....I highly recommend that you use it!

I  mean...seriously....look at that lovely pile of herbs!!!

Tart...thats right...we're woking on making a tart. (focus, focus, focus)

Pour the mixture into your partially baked tart shell. Arrange your tomatoes and asparagus on top....pushing them in a little to make sure they're nice and snug, but not drowning.

Bake at 375' F for about 30 - 45 minutes.

Serve and enjoy the beauty of not only the presentation, but the aroma and flavors that blend together so nicely.

I hope everyone in the U.S. has a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend. The rest of the world...enjoy your weekend as well :-)

Giveaway Reminder....I'm giving away an $80 online shopping gift certificate for CSNStores.com. You have until 7/6/10 to enter.

Details ------------>HERE< ------------

Morels, Soup and A Giveaway!

If you had received 2 lbs of Morel Mushrooms for free...

And you had never even tasted Morels before...

Let alone cooked with them....

Wouldn't it be way cool if you could taste these delectable, tasty 'shrooms in a brand new dinning room?

I wish I could've. I mean, my dinning set is old and a little...mmm...wobbly. But a gal can dream, right?

The people over at CSN Stores, well...Sean to be exact, contacted me to see if I would host a Giveaway.  Of course I said yes. I mean....why would I turn down the chance to give my favorite blog peeps something for free!!

What can you win? A CSN STORE GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR $80.00!!! You can use it at any of their 200+ stores (holy crap...did you know they have that many online stores???). This is a one-time use gift certificate, and it does not cover shipping costs.

This giveaway is for U.S. and Canadian residences.

What do you have to do to win? Leave a comment and some way I can contact you should you win.

You have until hmmm....how long should I keep this giveaway open? Let's say...1 week. Post your comment by the end of the day of 7/6/2010. I'll announce the winner a day or so after that....depending on how my week is going. Sound fair?

Oh...if you do not wish to be part of the giveaway, or you live outside of the US or Canada, you are more than welcome to (and highly encouraged to) leave a comment...just let me know you're not entering the contest.

Now...did someone mention Morel Mushrooms? Oh ya....that was me. Well, let me tell you how I became the proud owner of such exquisite fungi.

I entered a contest over at Marx Food....and I won! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

And within a couple of days, a big box showed up at work! Of course I looked inside to see my prized possessions...and quickly stashed the box in the fridge at work.

I have to take a moment to apologize to all my co-workers for being responsible for making the fridge smell like dirt.

For 3 days.

Not that I left the box there for 3 days....but the odor kinda lingered. And bless their hearts...not one person complained. At least that I know of. Sorry guys!! You're the bestest!

This post is getting a big long winded isn't it? I'll go into more detail on my mushrooms with the next post. Yep...there's gonna be more. I didn't just make soup. But since I was craving mushroom soup for the longest time...I thought I'd share it with you all first.

This recipe came from Julia Child's MtAoFC and I have to say...it is fabulous!!!

Most often, when I cook, I change up stuff. I mean...that's what we do, right? But with Julia's recipe, I didn't change a thing!! It's easy, but not simple. It didn't take all that long...but there are several steps.

And each step is sooooo worth it. I know it's not soup season....but this isn't a hearty soup and it is lovely. It has a rich, creamy flavor that leaves you wanting more. Just when you think you're done and you walk away....you find yourself still tasting the soup in your mouth and next thing you know, you're running back for another bite.

I swear!! It happened several times to me.

Potage Veloute Aux Champignons
(Cream of Mushroom Soup)
Printable Version

1/4 cup minced onion
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
6 cups of boiling chicken stock (Julia says that if you don't have any stock, then use chicken broth with 2 parsley sprigs, 1/3 bay leaf and 1/8 teaspoon thyme)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chopped stems of 1 lb of mushrooms (or if you're using morels like I am...just chop up 1/4 of them)
2 tablespoons butter
Thinly sliced caps from the 1 lb of mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup whipping cream
1 - 3 tablespoons butter

Slowly cook the onions in 3 tablespoons of butter for about 8 - 10 minutes, until tender. But don't let them get brown. Add the flour and store over low heat for about 3 minutes, without letting it brown.

Remove from heat and beat in the chicken stock until thoroughly blended with the flour mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the mushroom stems. Simmer while partially covered for at least 20 minutes.

Strain and press the juices out of the mushroom stems. Return the soup to the pan.

Now, I didn't want to waste any of my morels...so I didn't strain them out. I put them right back in and I got out my emulsion blender and had at it!

In another sauce pan, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter begins to foam, add the mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the lemon juice. Cover and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes.

Pour the mushrooms along with their cooking juices into the strained soup base and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and cream.

Then....beat in a cup of the the hot soup 1 teaspoon at a time! Gradually stir in the rest. (this process will temper the eggs so you don't end up with scrambled egg soup.)

Add more salt and pepper if needed. Return the soup to the pan and stir over low heat for a minute or two but don't let the soup simmer.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 - 3 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Serve and enjoy...thoroughly!

I'm going to enter this soup as my Real Food for Two for Tuesdays at Heathers from GirliChef:

Aaaaand....Souper Sundays over at Debs from Kahakai Kitchen :

whew...ok, I'm done. and I'm pooped. You can wake up now.