Leftover Reinvention: Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Tartlette

I hate when I have leftovers that go to waste. Especially when I have gone out to eat and spent money on something delicious, but then forget about it in my fridge. Talk about a waste of good money and good food!

A week ago I went to Doughboys on 3rd Street in Los Angeles. I grew up in the Fairfax area of LA, eating at Doughboys all the time, and going especially for their Red Velvet Cake which is by far the most moist, delicious, and satisfying Red Velvet in LA. Sprinkles Cupcakes pales in comparison. But their baked good, since they started out as a bakery, compliment their ever so diverse and delicious menu. You can get a 4 cheese grilled cheese sandwich and a giant bowl of tomato soup for 10 dollars. It is the best sure for a rainy day, and a perfect way to fuel up before you explore the fashion stores and one of a kind shops in that area.

On this Doughboys trip, I tried something I never had before. The Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup; on a rainy day, I couldn't pass that up. It is "light, smooth & creamy, made with a puree of oven roasted garlic cloves, and served with cheese tortellini and portabello mushrooms." And the best part about their soups was that they made each soup to order, so it never sits in a hot cauldron all day. It came served with a slightly toasted 6 inches of baguette. Divine.

The soup was ginormous, so I didn't get to finish it. But I decided to make something as equally delicious with the leftovers. A mushroom tart. And puff pastry is a wonderful thing. Its easy, buttery, flaky, and delicious. Here is a quick idea on how to turn leftovers into the star of another dish.

1 cup Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup

2 Cups sliced wild mushrooms (I used portabello, porcini, and crimini)

1 Puff pastry sheet

4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Place the puff pastry on the counter to thaw per instructions on the package. Once done thawing, unfold it. It should be in a square shape.

For this tart, I wanted a long rectangular shape. Take a rolling pin and roll the puff pastry until you get a nice rectangular shape. Once rolled, fold a little of the pastry dough up all around the edges, creating a ridge that the mushroom and soup mixture will sit into.

Clean your mushrooms and remove the stems. Slice your mushrooms into nice hearty slices. You want something to bit into.

Combine the mushrooms into the soup. Make sure the mushrooms are coated. Once coated, pour the soup and mushrooms onto the pastry dough.

Evenly spread out the mushrooms. Cover the top of the pastry with the grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake the tart at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. It should be golden brown and the cheese should be completely melted. 

Easy, delicious dinner made from leftovers. Yum ;)

The tart was so good and perfect top eat during the Millionare Matchmaker finale with my friend Janene. Between the two of us, we still couldn't finish it. This would be great as an appetizer for a party as well, maybe doing individual tarts.