ABC - Mushroom Cheddar Tarts

"Could we bake something savory for ABC?" Sunita asked. Yes, we can Sunita! :o) I browsed through the seemingly endless list of recipes on the King Arthur Flour website, looking for savory recipes. And that's how this month's Mushroom Cheddar Tarts came about.

Yummy savory and cheesy tartlettes :o)

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

I was planning on making half the recipe. After reading comments from some of the ABC bakers, I went with half the crust recipe and the full recipe for the filling. Not sure if that was a goof on KAF's part, but half the recipe seemed enough for the full filling amount.

The crust was really easy to make and work with, no finicky at all, even after making some changes. The food processor came in very handy for this. I used some White Whole Wheat flour and substituted grated Edam cheese for the sharp cheddar, and I added 1/8 tsp of garlic powder (yum!).

I used my regular muffin pan for these tarts and cut 9 squares out of the dough. Then using a 4" bowl, I cut them into circles. I was able to make 3 more tarts with the dough scraps, totaling 12 tarts (yes!).

As I was getting ready to make the filling with zucchini instead of mushrooms, I realized I had leftover mixed roasted vegetables. That's when a light bulb went off (laziness had absolutely *nothing* to do with it, promise!) :o)

Oven roasted potato, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms

I chopped them up and had just enough for my 12 tarts. Since my oven roasted veggies had basil and oregano in them, I replaced the thyme in the Tart recipe with basil. Here too I used grated Edam cheese instead of cheddar cheese.

12 tarts getting filled with all the yummy ingredients

12 tarts getting ready for the oven

I baked mine in the bottom rack of the oven, on top of my pizza stone because I wanted to make sure the bottom of the crust baked through well and got crispy.

The bottom crust was nicely browned and not only crisply, but nice and flaky as well. Here's the picture up-close:

Yummy buttery and flaky crust with a spicy quiche filling. Bon appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• Hubby loved these tarts. He too was happy about a savory option and loved the crust ("it's nice and crumby" - he meant "flaky", haha). He thought it could have used a little bit more salt. I was cautious and probably under-salted because the veggies were already salted and there was quite a bit of cheese. He gave it a 9 out 10 rating.
• I loved these tarts as well (didn't miss any salt though). As one of the ABC bakers suggested, I ate mine at room temperature (about 1-2 hours after they were done baking). The crust was so buttery and flaky with lots of flavor on its own. The egg, cheese, and veggie mixture worked together really well.
• When I was done making these, I thought, "This is too much work, I'm never making these again". l'm happy to report that I changed my mind about .25 seconds after taking my first bite :o)
• Leftover are currently in the freezer, waiting for a savory craving :o)
• Crust: please see my modified ingredients list below.
• Filling changes: subbed equal amount of roasted vegetables, used half-n-half instead of milk, used equal amount of grated Edam cheese, subbed basil for thyme, added garlic powder, a little cumin, and cayenne.
• The original recipe can be found HERE.
• Make sure you check out what the other ABC bakers thought of this recipe.

Crust for these Savory Tarts

(half recipe; modified from King Arthur Flour website)

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) cold butter, cut into pats

1 cups (4 1/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Flour White Whole Wheat flour

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

3/8 cup (1.5 ounces) shredded Edam cheese

1/4 cup (2 ounces) ice water

Follow the instructions on the King Arthur Flour website.