At first glance it seems like there is allot of garlic in the recipe and I suppose there probably is (although you haven't experienced a garlic hit until you have tried my mother in law's Caesar salad, which is amazing). The thing with the garlic here though, is that when you roast it you take all the punch out and you are left with a creamy soft garlic taste which is lovely. I always throw a few cloves in when I roast potato (only on those very rare occasions when I am not eating the appropriate calories for the day you understand) and everyone fights over them. Roast garlic is also particularly good spread on toast, but I digress. Chop the mushrooms as large or as fine as you prefer, and play around with the mushroom you use. Oyster mushrooms are good, just buy whatever appeals to you in the supermarket.
When it comes to fillo pastry shells, there are two options.The first is that you can use a 58 mm (2 ¼ inch) round cookie cutter to cut out 75 rounds of fillo dough, take a circle, spray with butter flavoured spray, cover with another round, spray again, cover with the final round.Then, using mini muffin trays, form the rounds into tart shells, bake in a 375 degree oven until browned and then allow cooling.The second option is that you can buy them.Option two is certainly my preference and justification is that I would buy the fillo pastry anyway, so why not save myself the stress.
Mushroom and Roast Garlic tarts
(Makes about 25) Ingredients
3 cups of finely chopped mushrooms (It is difficult to say how many mushrooms this is and the weights will differ depending on the type of mushrooms you use.As a guide I use portabella’s, and I find that 2 large mushrooms yield two cups of chopped) 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lite butter 3 large shallots, finely chopped 9 cloves garlic, crushed ¾ cup (185 ml) dry white wine ¾ cup (185 ml) stock (chicken or vegetable) 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped 1 egg white ¼ cup (20 grams) Panko bread crumbs 5 sheets of fillo pastry Butter flavoured cooking spray Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a piece of foil with olive oil spray and wrap the garlic cloves up to form a small parcel. Bake for about 25 minutes or until soft. Reduce oven to 375 degrees.Melt the butter in a non stick fry pan; add the shallots and garlic then sauté until just transparent, 4 -5 minutes.Add the mushrooms and sauté until wilted, 4 – 5 minutes.Add the wine and stock and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, 12 – 15 minutes.Add the rosemary and thyme, remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and allow it to cool.Combine the mushroom mixture with the egg whites and the breadcrumbs and mix well, season with salt and pepper.Take the first sheet of fillo pastry (cover the remaining sheets with a damp cloth to stop them drying out). Lay the pastry on a flat surface and cut into five strips lengthways.Spray the first strip with butter flavoured spray and place a teaspoonful of the mushroom mixture in the top right hand corner.Fold the left corner over the mixture to form a triangle.Continue folding the length of the strip, maintaining the triangle shape.Repeat with the remaining fillo strips.Spray the top with the butter flavoured spray and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.Triangles can be made a day in advance and kept covered with a damp cloth, in the refrigerator.
