Mark Hix recipe: Wild mushroom tarts

Wild mushroom tarts (Jason Lowe)

Wild mushroom tarts

Makes 15-20 as a canapé or snack

You can make these tasty little snacks any shape you want: round, square, rectangular – it's up to you. You can get away with using some cultivated oyster or shiitake in this, or a mixture of wild and cultivated.

Ingredients

200g butter puff pastry, rolled to about 2-3mm thick

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

A small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

A knob of butter

100g wild mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into small pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

150ml double cream

1tbsp chopped parsley

2tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs

1tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, then cut into pieces. Use a pastry cutter to make discs – or squares, or rectangles, if you prefer – then put them on a baking tray.

Bake for 3-4 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip over on the tray and return to the oven for another 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and cook the shallots and garlic for a minute on a low heat, until soft. Add the mushrooms, season with a little salt and pepper, and cook for a couple of minutes until they soften.

Add the double cream, bring to the boil and simmer until it has reduced substantially and just coats the mushrooms. Stir in the parsley and half the Parmesan, then mix the rest with the breadcrumbs.

When you are ready to serve, spoon the mushroom mixture on to the pastry and scatter the Parmesan crumb on top. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or until the crumb topping is lightly coloured.