Wild mushroom galettes
These make a wonderful first course or light lunch. Classic garlic mushrooms in a galette, similar to the old-fashioned vol-au-vent.
You will need a 8½cm/3in round cutter.
Ingredients
- 500g/1lb 2oz block ready-made puff pastry
- plain flour, for dusting
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- knob of butter
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 250g/9oz chestnut mushrooms, quartered
- 250g/9oz large flat mushrooms, cut into 8 wedges
- 250g/9oz mixed wild mushrooms such as oyster and shiitake, sliced
- 400g/14oz full-fat crème fraîche
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú Parmesan or alternative vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated
- ½ lemon, juice only
- finely chopped flatleaf parsley, to garnish
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface into a 28x20cm/11x8in rectangle about 3mm thick. Lightly score a criss-cross pattern over the surface of the pastry, being careful not to cut all the way through. Stamp out six rounds using an 8½cm/3in cutter.
Place on the baking tray and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Remove from the fridge and brush the tops with beaten egg.
Place a large roasting tin in the oven until very hot. Carefully add the oil, butter, garlic, and chestnut and flat mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Place the tin at the bottom of the oven and the baking sheet with pastry near the top of the oven. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until the pastries are well risen and lightly golden. The mushrooms should be brown and most of the juices should have evaporated.
Remove both trays from the oven. Slice the galettes in half widthways and remove any uncooked pastry from the middles. Place upside down on the baking sheet.
Add the wild mushrooms and crème fraîche to the roasting tin and mix. Place both trays back in the oven for 8–10 minutes, or until the pastry cases are crisp. The mushrooms should be softened and the crème fraîche will have made a mushroom-coloured sauce. Add the cheese and lemon juice to the mushrooms and season well.
Spoon the mushroom mixture into half the pastry cases. Garnish with the remaining parsley and top with the other halves. Serve straight away.
