Image and Recipe Credit
The South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association
Pastry:
175g flour
1 tsp sea salt flakes
120g cold butter, cut into small cubes
70g sour cream
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
60ml ice cold water
Mushroom filling:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
500g mixed cultivated mushrooms, sliced
150g grated Havarti or Gruyère cheese
Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk for egg wash
Method:
For the pastry:
Pulse flour and salt together in a food processor to mix.
Add the butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand.
Whisk together sour cream and lemon juice, add and pulse.
Slowly drizzle in just enough ice water until a soft dough is formed.
Knead dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk.
Wrap very well in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.
For the mushroom filling:
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan.
Fry the onion until golden brown and beginning to caramelize.
Add the garlic, thyme and rosemary. Cook until fragrant.
Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown. Season well.
Remove mushrooms from the heat and turn out onto a chopping board to cool.
Discard herb stems.
Preheat oven to 200˚C.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out cold, rested pastry into a large 30cm circle.
Transfer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Sprinkle a little cheese over the base of the pastry.
Toss the remaining cheese with the cooled mushrooms.
Arrange the mushrooms in the centre of the pastry leaving a 4cm border.
Fold the border up and over the filling, pleating along the way to seal the border.
Place cherry tomatoes around the mushroom filling and sprinkle with a little salt.
Egg wash the pastry and season. For extra points sprinkle a little cheese on the pastry edges.
Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and deeply golden brown.