Stepford Tart
(feeds about 6 hungry hippies or 8 normal people with a side order of pork chops!)
for the Pie:
quantity Shortcrust pastry enough to line an 8" diameter Deep Pie Dish
75g butter
1 onion finely sliced
450g mushrooms chopped (the dark, open field ones give the best flavour but if you don�t like eating black food, use ordinary closed cup white ones)
Juice of 1 lemon
200g soft cheese (Philadelphia, or mascarpone, or ricotta or something else squodgy)
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon (or miss this out if you havent got any, it still tastes lovely)
3 large eggs
salt and pepper
for the Topping:
55g butter
150g breadcrumbs (about 5 slices of bread � dry them out on a low setting in the toaster then whizz in the food processor)
3 garlic cloves chopped
grated zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons chopped parsley (or leave it out if you don�t like green bits)
Heat the oven to Gas 6, 200C, 400F
Line the tart tin with the pastry and bake blind (if you don�t know how to do this I can instruct but might be easier to buy a ready made pastry shell � they arent as deep as home made so you might want to make half quantity of filling)
Melt the butter in a decent sized non-stick pan and add the onion. Fry until soft and golden. Add mushrooms, lemon juice and a little sat and pepper and fry over a medium heat for about five minutes until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the tarragon (if using). Let the mixture cool while you do the next bit.
To make the topping, melt the butter in a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs, garlic, lemon zest and parsley (or not!) and fry briskly until the breadcrumbs begin to crisp but arent yet coloured.
Put the soft cheese and eggs into a bowl and beat well, stir in the mushroomy stuff and pour into the pastry case. Sprinkle the breadcrumby stuff over the top and bake for 25 minutes until set crisp and golden.