Cep tart

Serves 4

(JASON LOWE)

You can use a large variety of mushroom such as cep here or a selection – it really depends on what you have foraged or managed to get your hands on from the shops or the market.

250g butter puff pastry, rolled to one-third of a cm thick
1 egg, beaten
50g butter
2 medium shallots, peeled, halved and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
200-250g ceps or other wild mushrooms, cleaned
150ml double cream
1tbsp chopped parsley

Cut four rectangles from the puff pastry, about 14cm x 11cm in size. Make an incision with a ruler and the point of a knife all the way round about cm in from the edge. Prick the pastry within the incision all over with a fork to prevent it rising too much, then put the rectangles on a baking tray. Brush the edges with the beaten egg and leave to rest in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Bake the pastry for 8-10 minutes and remove from the oven. Turn the oven up to 200C/gas mark 6.

Cut the mushrooms into even-sized pieces, melt the butter in a frying pan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the mushrooms and season, then turn up the heat and fry for 3-4 minutes, turning them every so often until tender.

Add the cream and parsley and simmer until the cream has thickened and is just coating the mushrooms.

To serve, carefully push the centre of the tarts (the area inside the incision you made prior to cooking) down and spoon the mushroom mixture into the tarts.