Mushroom-Parmesan Tart

Before I even say a word about this tart, I'm going to make a confession: I did not make the tart today. I made it way back on February 12, and I thought to myself, "You are going to have days in March when you order a cheese pizza and call it a night, and on those days, you will wish you had something more inspiring to share with your legions of followers."

Despite my mid-February optimism about Meatless March going viral, I still have only 27 followers on Instagram, so maybe not the "legions" I envisioned, but I digress.

This NYT Mushroom-Parmesan Tart recipe (subscription required) is very delicious, but it took me a darned long time to make. In fact, it took me a darned long time even to start making it, because I was almost out of Parmigiano Reggiano, and since I am a parmesan snob, I had to wait until I got around to a trip to Whole Foods before I would attempt it. Once armed with the proper parm, I was all set to make it one night, until I realized that I had bought 1.25 CUPS of mushrooms rather than 1.25 POUNDS. So the recipe was put on the back burner again (food humor!), until I could make another grocery trip.

Rather than making the pastry as directed by the NYT recipe, I used a recipe a friend gave to my mom decades ago, called "Never-Fail Pastry." This is accurate; it has never failed me. It works equally well for sweet and savory pies and tarts, and it is flaky and yummy.

Never-Fail Pastry
Makes 4-5 crusts (halve the recipe for 2 crusts)

4 c flour
2 t salt
1 T sugar
1 3/4 c Crisco shortening
1 T white or cider vinegar
1 large egg
1/2 c water

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add Crisco and miss with a fork until crumbly. In a small bowl, beat together water, vinegar, and egg with a fork. Combine the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir/knead until it forms a dough.
Divide the dough into 4-5 portions and with your hands, shape each into a flat, round patty ready for rolling. Wrap each in waxed paper and chill at least 1/2 hour. When ready to roll pie crust, lightly flour both sides of a patty and roll it on a floured board. The patties can be frozen.

Chilling the pastry dough delayed the tart by another day, but eventually things were in motion, and my trusty helper and I made the filling of the tart as per the NYT recipe. It took approximately forever to finish. The onions and mushrooms cooked very slowly (I should have turned up burner, I suppose), and it took a while for them to cool before I could continue with the recipe.

All this to say, don't attempt this tart on a weeknight, unless you don't mind eating quite late. But I can't advise you to bypass it entirely, because it turned out perfectly and I loved it. I served it with a spinach salad. If I ever get my act together, and have the chance to serve it to people outside of my onion-averse clan, I will make it again.

And fear not: even though this was not actually my dinner tonight, I consumed no meat today.