Pork and Mushroom Filo Tart

I love making quiches for dinner. They are quick and simple to make, are wholesome and healthy (you can get the kiddies to eat eggs and veggies without having them turn up their noses), you can make the dish ahead of time, it reheats beautifully and the best part, if you are feeling too lazy, you can always go in for a store bought pastry like I have done. 

But this time, I landed up making a quiche because I had a roll of store-bought filo pastry lying in the freezer for ages. Originally bought to make Pastilla, a mind-blowingly delicious sweet and savory Morrocon pastry which I had tasted at Casablanca at Double Tree By Hilton and immediately fell head over heels in love with. 

Whenever I decided to make Chicken Pastilla and put across the idea to the kids, it was immediately rejected with a, "Ew!! chicken with cinnamon and sugar!! How grose? Howcan anyone possibly eat that?" and with that reaction totally weakening my resolve of trying out my dish and hence resulting me neglecting the poor filo. 

But still, I am not going to give up so easily as I am determined to try out my chicken pastilla at least once even at the cost of it landing in the bin. 

I had some pork meat left over from trimming of the pork chops (which is yet another story ). I stir fried it along with some mushrooms and decided to use them for making the filling. Instead of using a short crust pastry I used the filo pastry which resulted in a much lighter crust without compromising the end result. Layers of crispy pastry combined with the delicious pork and mushroom filling is an absolute winner. 

A light tart (both on your taste buds and waistline), this is an absolute treat and with no rolling to do it is a winner all the way.

 Ingredients
For the Pastry
5 sheets of filo pastry, thawed if frozen (bigger than your baking tin, so it overhangs the edges)

30g of butter, melted

For the Filling
250 gms cooked pork cut into cubes (you can substitute pork with lamb, chicken or fish)
150 gms mushroom sliced and stir fried lightly

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup cheddar cheese (I used Amul), coarsely grated

180ml double cream

3 eggs
4-5 cherry tomatoes cut into half for decorating.

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt to taste

Method
Heat the oven to 190C.
Layer five sheets of the filo pastry into the tin, brushing each one with melted butter and layiing them at angles across each other, fanning them around the tin so that each filo sheets overhangs a little over the edge of the tin.
Trim any edges that are too big for the tin.
In a frying pan, saute the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and pork and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.  
Cool for a few minutes, then tip into the tart tin and spread over the base.
Beat together the egg and cream. Season and pour into the tin.
Garnish the top with the halved cherry tomatoes.
Bake at 190 C for 25-30 minutes, or till the filling is set and the top becomes golden brown and crispy.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.