Monthly Mingle - Tale of Two Tarts

Goodness knows I love a challenge... and I love cheese, eggs and buttery pastry. What better than an inspired theme of Topless Tarts to get my creative juices going for April's Monthly Mingle guest hosted by Cook Sister! for Meeta at Honey What's for Lunch. These cross-blog activities are really quite wonderful to exchange ideas and see different takes on a theme. Who will be going down that sweet road, who makes the savory turn?

Cook Sister! Hosting April's Monthly Mingle

Springtime brings beautiful leeks, green onions and tender baby chives so my first flirty tart goes in that direction. An oniony delight, sweetness derived from sauteed onions, shallots and leeks combine layers of tangy goat cheese and buttery lusciousness. Did you know that the Ancient Egyptians worshipped onions, believing that its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternal life?  Well, I was certainly craving some spring onion deliciousness and frankly today was enough of a worship moment for me.

Because the filling was enough to work into two tart crusts I give you another variation using roasted asparagus, mushrooms and tomato. Why waste some great leftovers!?  These beautiful tarts are rich, buttery, creamy and ready for a wonderful luncheon or brunch in your future. I served them over a pretty little spinach salad with a savory vinaigrette for a light dinner. Oh, and note that the filling is no way figure friendly, low fat or low calorie, just saying....

Spring Onion Goat Cheese and Ricotta Tart

Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus, Mushroom and Tomato Tart

Links to
Check out the finalized Topless Tart Roundup - Deliciousness in a crust!
Monthly Mingle hosted by Cook Sister!
Monthly Mingle by Meeta
Emeril Lagasse's Goat Cheese and Rosemary Tart (inspiration)

click Read More for my Two Tart Recipes

 Goat Cheese and Ricotta Tart - Two Ways
Variation 1 - Spring Onions
Variation 2 - Roasted Asparagus, Mushrooms and Tomato
2 9” tarts

Ingredients
2 each 9” blind baked tart shells
Base Tart Filling
11 oz goat cheese
8 oz low fat ricotta cheese
¾ cup room temperature unsalted butter
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup all purpose flower
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Variation 1 - Spring Onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 medium leek, finely sliced
1 cup yellow onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon fresh leaf parsley, finely chopped

Variation 2 - Roasted Asparagus, Mushroom and Tomatoes
see previous Roasted Asparagus Recipe and use leftovers
1 cup roasted asparagus, cut into 1” pieces
½ cup roasted mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup roasted cherry tomatoes, rough chopped
1 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes, for garnish
8 asparagus spear tops cut aprox. ½ “ long for garnish

Prep
Using your favorite double pie crust recipe, prepare and
blind bake your tart crusts, set aside and cool before filling.
Preheat oven to 400°
In a medium bowl combine filling ingredients, place half mixture into another medium bowl.

Directions
Variation - 1 Spring Onions
Heat olive oil in medium sized saute pan over medium heat, add garlic, shallots, leek, onion and cook for up to 8 minutes until completely translucent and soft. Do not brown or caramelize, turn heat down if browning starts to occur. Add onion mixture to filling mixture, stir to mix thoroughly.  Pour mixture into tart crust. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, until center  is set. Remove and cool 10 minutes before serving.

Variation 2 - Roasted Asparagus, Mushroom and Tomatoes
Take left over roasted asparagus  mixture and stir into remaining filling. Stir to mix and then pour into tart crust. Adorn top creatively with asparagus tops and sun dried tomatoes. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Remove and cool 10 minutes before serving.

Cook’s Tips
You could choose to make 2 onion or asparagus tarts, just double vegetable ingredients before mixing into filling. Also this is nicely served on top of a baby spinach salad with a nice savory vinaigrette.