Hungree Girl: Truffle Mushroom Ricotta Tart

One of the to-do's on my bucket list, inspired by Ali the most truffle obsessed person I know, is to go truffle hunting with pigs in the forests of France. A little far-fetched? Maybe. But hey it's my list and I do what I want. Well, if you weren't aware, truffles are very hard to come by and extremely expensive. In the culinary world, they're the equivalent to diamonds: rare, coveted, and a girl's (or maybe just my) best friend. While truffle lovers like myself can't have easy access to fresh truffles, we are able to get by with truffle infused ingredients like truffle salt and truffle oils. Two ingredients that pair beautifully with that intense nutty truffle flavor are mushrooms and cheese. Playing off of this delicious combination, I decided to make a savory tart featuring homemade ricotta cheese, seared mushrooms, thyme and drizzles of truffle oil. Honestly, it was perfection. The lightness of the ricotta contrasted flawlessly with the rich earthiness of the mushroom's juices. Sprinkled with fresh thyme and truffle oil, and this tart was just KILLING it.

Truffle Mushroom Ricotta Tart

Ingredients

For pastry

1 ½ cups flour

8 tbs butter, cold

salt

5 tbs chilled water

8 large button mushrooms, sliced thinly

lots of olive oil

2 cups ricotta cheese (I used homemade, recipe from previous post http://hungreegirl.blogspot.com/2012/07/homemade-ricotta-cheese.html)

1 tbs fresh thyme

2 tbs truffle oil

kosher salt

Recipe: For the pastry crust, cut the butter into small pieces. In an electric mixing bowl, combine the flour and the butter and mix until little ball shapes are formed. Add the salt and water and mix just until the dough comes together. Shape it into a ball with your hands and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out your crust into a thin circle, about ¼ of an inch thick, and lay it in your greased pie/tart pan. Fold a rustic crust, using the edges that hang over and folding them back on top. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. If it starts to puff up, use the back of a wooden spoon to pat it back down. Remove from the oven and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Put a large skillet on the stove and heat to a very high heat. Once hot, coat the bottom with olive oil, about 1 tbs. Once the olive oil starts to smoke, add the mushrooms and sear them in batches, making sure not to crowd them!! If you crow them they will steam and won't sear properly. Cook all mushrooms and set aside on a plate.

Now you are ready to assemble, make sure oven is at 350 degrees. Drizzle 1/2 tbs of truffle oil over the crust. Next, spread the ricotta in an even layer on top of the oil drizzled crust. Pat it down slightly so the whole crust is covered. Lay the mushrooms down over the ricotta. Arrange the mushrooms how you like, trying to cover the whole tart. Drizzle with 1 tbs truffle oil (or more for a richer flavor), sprinkle with fresh thyme and salt. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until the tart is set and the mushrooms have baked into the ricotta. Remove from oven, cool and cut yo'self a big slice.