Vegan cheddar and mushroom tart
Ingredients
1 large onion, peeled
200g mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
About 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (and some extra for garnish)
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
½ of 400g can of brown lentils, drained and rinsed
2 sheets ready made puff pastry (check that it’s vegan!)
100g Angel Food cheddar, grated
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 220C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Dry-fry the onions for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat with a big pinch of salt. Stir constantly so they don’t stick. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring regularly, for another 5 minutes or so, until the volume has reduced by about half. Evaporating the moisture in this way intensifies the flavour.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the oil, tomato paste, soy sauce, garlic, thyme and balsamic vinegar, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Add the lentils and stir them gently through the onion/mushroom mixture. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as desired.
5. Use a fork to prick the sheets of pastry all over – this should stop the pasty puffing up (sometimes it still puffs up during baking, but you can use a sharp knife to pierce the pastry and it will settle down). Cover each pastry sheet with half of the grated Angel Food cheddar leaving a border of about 2cm clear. This will be folded over once all the filling is added. Top the cheese with half of the cooked mixture, remembering to leave the clear space around the edge.
6. Fold the pastry edges over, pressing lightly with a fork to help them stay down (especially on the corners). Brush the pastry edges with your favourite plant-based milk
7. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve hot, sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves.
Notes
Measure the oil first, and then the tomato paste – that way the tomato paste will slide neatly off the measuring spoon.
