The Rustic Charm of Mushroom Tartlets (original) (raw)

Now that the fun and commotion of Hanukkah and the winter holidays are behind us, we wish you all a very happy and healthy new year!

Today I went for a walk in the early morning fog. I made the decision that I no longer want to sit in bed for an hour, sucked into scrolling social media. I want to move more and take care of my health. Looking back at 2024, I realize that it has been a year filled with great emotion and some wonderful milestones (including the college graduation of our daughter Rebekah). In May, Neil and I traveled on a Sephardic Educational Center mission to Israel. We stayed at the Sephardic House Hotel in the Old City. From there it is a short walk to the Kotel, but it is always breathtaking to see the glory of the Western Wall and the many Jews praying there at all hours of the day and night.

On the mission, led by the incomparable Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, our wonderful group of Angelenos met the brave families of the hostages and survivors of Oct. 7. We bore witness to the atrocities that occurred at the site of the Nova Festival and Kibbutz Kfar Aza. We went to the “car cemetery” and to the Har Herzl National Military Cemetery, with its many fresh graves of young heroes. It was heartbreaking and difficult to process all the emotions.

Then on May 11, we had a call in the middle of the night. That’s when our son Sam told us that our first grandchild, a little girl, had been born.

Our whole world changed forever. Being a grandmother has given me the greatest joy and my heart bursts when I hold her. I have so much hope for her and her life as a Jew in America.

I have greater understanding of the love my parents had for my brothers and me and their grandchildren. I better understand the life messages my mother conveyed to me.

I’ve also realized that I need to build my strength and stamina. Holding a baby and getting up off the floor at the same time is probably the hardest thing I can do. No joke!

I pray that in 2025, light and love will prevail. That Jews can live without fear and can continue to be a shining light and force for good in this world. I am so very grateful for all the blessings in my life and so very thankful to the people Israel for their strength and sacrifice.

Sharon and I look forward to cooking many more delicious recipes and telling meaningful stories.

—Rachel

Every Friday, I stand at my white marble kitchen counter and I cook. Every week, I cook the same roster of ingredients — chicken and fish, ground beef and roasts, rice and pasta and many brightly colored, fresh vegetables. While the ingredients and spices are similar each week, my menu is often inspired by the wish to please the palate of the people for whom I’m cooking that particular Shabbat. I try to imagine the pleasure my husband and my children, my nieces and nephews, my dear friends and cherished guests will have in eating each dish I prepare.

It’s a lot of standing and chopping and stirring and pouring and watching the oven and stovetop, but I’m grateful for the job. It is a privilege to nourish the people at my table and it’s a miracle to take simple ingredients and to transform them into something delicious, nutritious, joyful.

As we cook each Shabbat, you dear reader, are always on our minds. Rachel and I are always thinking of recipes, dishes, flavors, ingredients and techniques that we can share with you.

This week, after a week of parties and gatherings, latkes and sufganiyot, Rachel and I didn’t want the festivities to end.

So we are sharing with you an easy, but really festive recipe — mushroom tartlets.

The recipe calls for sautéing portobello, shiitake and cremini mushrooms then baking them in puff pastry. Kind of like an open bureka, but just a little more elegant. The only skill required to make these savory treats is patience. Patience to lay each square of puff pastry in a muffin tin and then to spoon in the sautéed mushrooms, brush the exposed pastry with a little egg wash and bake in a very hot oven.

You can keep them pareve for Shabbat or add a bit of crumbled feta or shredded mozzarella for a dairy brunch.

These tartlets are the perfect combination of crispy pastry and earthy mushrooms!

—Sharon

P.S. My first grandchild, also a little girl, was born Dec. 3. The Sephardic Spice Girls franchise is secure!

Mushroom Tartlets

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

3/4 cup avocado oil, for sautéing

2 lb mix of portobello, shiitake, and cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami Seasoning Blend, or soy sauce

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp potato starch

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a skillet, warm 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat, then add the a third of the mushrooms.

Sprinkle with a dash of umami seasoning, salt and pepper.

Sauté the mushrooms until they are nicely browned, then transfer to a bowl.

Repeat until all the mushrooms are sautéed.

Sprinkle potato starch over the mushrooms and toss lightly. Set aside.

Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray. Cut the puff pastry into 4-inch squares. Slightly stretch each piece of pastry and place in muffin hole. Pastry should extend over the edges.

Arrange sautéed mushrooms in each pastry shell.

Brush edges with egg wash and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.