holiday food: mushroom, chestnut and porto tarts!!

hi friends! how is your week going? what are you up to? i am doing great, listening to christmas music as i type this post. december is definitely my favorite month of the year! i have always enjoyed christmas, ever since i was a little girl. i just love all the food, family, music and of course, presents hehehe. i think part of my love for christmas stems from the fact that my birthday is very close to it, december 23rd, but also (and really, mostly) because growing up my parents always did their best to give us the best christmas they could. ever since i can remember, my parents tried to make the holidays special. my mom loves the holidays (of course she has to, i was born in the middle of them! ;)) and she passed that love on to me.

the recipe i have today comes from a present i got last year for christmas, the book: grandma’s best recipes! i love that book and use it whenever i get a chance. while looking for holiday recipes i came across these tarts and immediately knew i had to make them. so here they are: mushroom, chestnut and porto tarts!

INGREDIENTS:
this recipe makes 12 tarts.

for the shells:
1 cup all purpose flour
7 tbs butter
pinch of salt
a bit of cold water

for the filling:
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups of cooked chopped chestnuts
2 cups baby portobello mushrooms
2 tbs porto wine
2/3 cups of heavy cream
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
salt & pepper
chopped fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS:
the first thing we need to tackle are the chestnuts. they need to be cooked for this recipe.

start by making an ‘X’ on each of them. this will help them release the pressure/air once they start to boil.

add the chestnuts to boiling water. they should boil for about 25-30 minutes.

get started on the tarts while the chestnuts cook.

sift the flour and salt.

add butter, preferably cut into small pieces.

either using a dough hook or your hands, incorporate the butter onto the flour.

add a little bit of cold water, just enough to incorporate the dough.

knead the dough on a floured surface.

and split it in two.

by now, the chestnuts should be cooked. just turn off the heat and set them aside.

roll out one of the two halves.

cut out 6 circles.

and stretch each circle out.

repeat with the other half of the dough and put them on a muffin tin. put the tin in the fridge for 20 minutes.

while the dough chills, peel and and chop up the chestnuts.

try not to eat them all while you do this. hehe!

chop up the mushrooms to about the same size as the chestnuts.

chop the garlic, shallot and parsley.

heat up the olive oil and butter.

once the butter melts, add the garlic and shallot.

add the mushroom and chestnuts once the shallots become transparent.

mix everything and after about 5 minutes add the porto.

by now, the shells should have been in the fridge for 20 minutes. take them out and set them aside.

you will need baking beans (ceramic balls, used while baking pastry dough - yup, just found out about them too) but if you are like me and do not have any just wrap some rice on parchment paper.

do this for every one of the shells.

place the tart shells in the oven for 10 minutes at 350º.

meanwhile, mix in the egg and egg yolk to the mushrooms. make sure your skillet is on low heat to avoid the egg from frying.

and add the cream.

mix everything well and cook for 3 minutes on very low heat and season with salt and pepper.

once the shells have baked for 10 minutes take them out and remove our improvised baking beans.

yay shells!

pour in the mushroom, porto and chestnut mixture onto the shells. bake them for another 10 minutes.

let the tarts cool for 5 minutes before getting them out to the cupcake pan.

sprinkle with fresh parsley right before serving.

these were uhmazing!

i never knew that chestnuts and mushrooms would go so well together!

i think these are perfect for any holiday party (or really any party). they are great for whenever you are entertaining and people will think you slaved away all day long making these. these tarts will definitely impress your guests.