These little filo tarts filled with light and fluffy whisky flavoured mushroom mousse make a delightful appetiser or party nibble, they are vegetarian and very, very moreish.
While most of us love a good party, after the all-out marathon of cooking over Christmas the thought of being a kitchen creative yet again can for some be a step too far.
Many folks just head for the supermarket and load up on party nibbles for New Year. The stores tempt with 2 for 1 offers and multi buy packages. However no matter what you do you still seem to stagger from the shops a lot lighter in the pocket.
Keeping it veggie!
Why vegetarian? Well there are a lot of folks out there who prefer not to eat meat at the best of times, but also after the excesses of Christmas. Many people just like to take a step back from the meat feast and go for something lighter and these mushroom mousse filled filo tarts are just perfect.
Ingredients
- 1 packet frozen filo pastry
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 100g/3 ½ oz button mushrooms chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
- 1 tablespoon whisky
- 2 tablespoons double (heavy) cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to make your filo flower tarts
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and lightly grease 2 x mini muffin tins
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and have a pastry brush to hand ready to deal with the filo pastry.
- Unwrap the pastry and stack the sheets together. Cut into 6cm/2 ½” squares. Cover with a damp tea towel to stop the pastry drying out.
- Brush one side of a square of pastry with the melted butter and add another square on top at an angle so that the corners are midway between the corners of the bottom square. Butter this square and add a final square on top again at an angle. Add a brush of butter on top and lightly press the little pile of pastry squares into a hole of the prepared mini muffin tins. Do the same with all the other squares.
- Bake these for 6 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool before carefully removing from the tray.
Make the whisky mushroom mousse filling
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and add the chopped mushrooms, garlic and most of the thyme (keep some for garnishing).
- Cook on a moderate heat for 5 minutes and then add the whisky and cook stirring for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before blitzing in a food processor until smooth.
- Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Fold this into the mushroom mixture and season to taste.
- Spoon the mixture into your filo flower cases and decorate with any remaining thyme leaves.
A wee taste of Scotland
The dash of whisky gives these simple mushroom tarts a Scottish touch, in fact this recipe is from my book A Wee Taste Of Scotland.
While you might not want to go all-out Scottish with your New Year fare it is nice to have just a wee taste of the land that brought you Auld Lang Syne which will be echoing out around the entire English speaking world tomorrow night.
Happy New Year when it comes.
Looking for more quick and easy party food? Then check these out before you go;
Baked grapes with whipped feta bruschetta
Super easy prawn and bacon skewers
Steak toasts with mustard mayo
Scottish finnan toasts (posh fishy fingers!)
Smoked salmon on patoato scones
Mussel and leek party tartlets
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Filo Flowers With Whisky Mushroom Mousse
Ingredients
- 250 g filo pastry 1 pack frozen filo pastry
- 3 tbsp butter
- 100 g button mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp thyme chopped
- 1 tsp whisky
- 2 tbsp double cream heavy cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and lightly grease 2 x mini muffin tins
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and have a pastry brush to hand ready to deal with the filo pastry.
- Unwrap the pastry and stack the sheets together. Cut into 6cm/2 ½” squares. Cover with a damp tea towel to stop the pastry drying out.
- Brush one side of a square of pastry with the melted butter and add another square on top at an angle so that the corners are midway between the corners of the bottom square. Butter this square and add a final square on top again at an angle. Add a brush of butter on top and lightly press the little pile of pastry squares into a hole of the prepared mini muffin tins. Do the same with all the other squares.
- Bake these for 6 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool before carefully removing from the tray.
- Make the mousse filling;
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and add the chopped mushrooms, garlic and most of the thyme (keep some for garnishing).
- Cook on a moderate heat for 5 minutes and then add the whisky and cook stirring for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before blitzing in a food processor until smooth.
- Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Fold this into the mushroom mixture and season to taste.
- Spoon the mixture into your filo flower cases and decorate with any remaining thyme leaves.
This recipe sounds delicious. I would have to make it for myself as hubby does not like mushrooms. Did you have a nice holiday Karon? How is Idgy doing? I wish you both a wonderful New Year and thanks so much for sharing all your recipes and pictures of the beauty of your little piece of the world. Your blog is tops!
Patti xxoo
Hi Patti, Happy New Year. Thanks for always reading my blog for all this time. Idgy and I are both fine and going into 2014 with enthusiasm. Love to you and yours K x
How long will these hold before serving?
I keep them for about an hour or two