I love Sunday brunches, sitting sipping on mimosas and watching the day go by. This is a easy tart, which looks like a pizza, to make for your brunch … I usually serve it as a side to scrambled eggs, or if I want to go real fancy I poach some eggs to place on top of each slice. It is a nice appetizer in the evening … if you will be pressed for time you can cook the mushrooms, onions and pancetta the night before and the day of put mushrooms and onions on pizza, and heat up the pancetta in the microwave. This pairs well with most wines, and does just fine with a mimosa. I tried it this Sunday with a mimosa made with our brut (a white sparkling wine) and freshly squeezed orange juice. Research and development sometimes is pretty tough in Sonoma.
So, about the ingredients and why I chose them:
Store-bought pie crust? Because it’s easy, this is brunch, and I really don’t want to get up super early on a day I don’t have to row in the morning. Also … for less than $5 I have two crusts … seriously … why wake up early to make two crusts?
Royal trumpets, also known as king oyster mushrooms, I picked because I like the nuttiness they give to this dish … if you can’t find them other mushrooms should work; just avoid shiitake — they are a bit too strong for this recipe.
Cambozola cheese is a great cheese to pair with wine, it’s a triple cream cow’s milk brie with gorgonzola. With the fig, mushroom and onions it’s a great combination. Though I do understand there are many people out there who don’t like gorgonzola … you can always substitute the cheese with any brie of your choice. The other reason why I picked a brie is they melt very well.
Pancetta is a fancy way of saying Italian bacon. Bacon, gorgonzola, fig, caramelized onions and mushrooms? Oh yeah, my taste buds are waking up. If you can’t find diced pancetta use thick cut bacon or pork belly. If you are using pork belly make sure you remove the rind so it will cook easier. If you don’t eat pork, just use butter or olive oil to cook the mushrooms and onions.
Arugula I used not only for color but for a palate cleanser — that bite of pepper it has also adds to a nice finish. If you really don’t like arugula … spinach is also good … just not as peppery, so add some pepper to the top of the tart.
Fig Caviar Tart
Ingredients
- 8-oz. of pancetta diced
- ½ cup of fig caviar
- ½ pound Cambozola cheese -- crumbled
- ¾ pound of royal trumpet mushrooms – sliced lengthwise, bottom tip removed
- 1 large sweet onion – sliced thinly
- 5-oz baby arugula
- 1 package of rolled 9-inch pie crusts
- ¼ cup of unsalted butter
Directions
- Step 1 For crust:
- Step 2 Preheat stove to 450 degrees
- Step 3 Grease cookie sheet
- Step 4 Unroll pie crust and place in middle of sheet … pressing together any holes that happened during the unrolling.
- Step 5 Cover with ¼ cup of fig caviar.
- Step 6 Pierce about twenty times.
- Step 7 Cook for 9 to 12 minutes until golden and middle is firm.
- Step 8 Remove from stove.
- Step 9 Repeat with other crust.
- Step 10 For tart:
- Step 11 Preheat stove to 350 degrees.
- Step 12 On the stove-top in a large frying pan cook the pancetta.
- Step 13 When pancetta is ‘crispy’ remove meat from pan with a slotted spoon and store in a covered small bowl.
- Step 14 Reserve fat.
- Step 15 Add butter to fat, and melt slowly.
- Step 16 Add mushrooms to butter and fat mixture and slowly cook until some are golden.
- Step 17 Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon, place in bowl, and reserve the fat in the pan for the onions
- Step 18 When onions are brown remove from heat.
- Step 19 Over cooked crusts place in layers evenly:
- Step 20 Mushrooms
- Step 21 Crumbled Cambozola
- Step 22 Carmelized onions
- Step 23 Put in stove for 6 minutes.
- Step 24 Remove and top with arugula and pancetta.
- Step 25 Serve
