Note, during Art Week, my cooking suffers. In other words, we are in and out and about daily, no time for cooking. So, Sunday night I made a nice dinner, the last for at least a week – unless I take a day off!

I had a package of puff pastry languishing in the freezer because of Constant Companion’s adverse reaction to butter. The other day, however, he relented and said he could eat whatever I prepared with it. Wow! What to do?

A recipe for mushroom wellington had crossed my desktop and I thought it looked interesting, and more importantly, I had mushrooms in the fridge. Then a few days later a recipe for seasonal squash tart appeared in a newsletter from Saveur magazine. It’s a bit more complicated than my usual recipes, but I had that remaining piece of puff pastry in the freezer and had to give it a try.

I prepared the mushroom concoction sometime last week – it was not too difficult and was a hit! Last night I pulled out the second piece of puff pastry for the squash / puff combo. Good, but not a keeper.

Warning, both recipes have lots of steps.

Mushroom Wellington. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add 3 large peeled onions with some salt and pepper; stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes. Remove the onions and return the pan to the heat. Add 10 ½ oz (a bag) of baby spinach and cook until wilted. Remove and let the spinach cool. Return the pan to the heat, add a bit more olive oil and place the mushrooms (4 large portobello mushrooms,* trimmed and cleaned) top side down in the pan.  Cook about 5 minutes, lightly golden, turn, cook another 5 minutes. Remove and drain as they release a lot of liquid. Place vegetables in the fridge to cool completely.

*I did not have portobellos, so I used an 8 oz box of regular mushrooms that I’d sliced.

Preheat the oven to 390 F. Place a sheet of parchment paper or silpat on a baking tray, place the puff pastry sheet on the pan. Spread half of the onions over the middle of the pastry, leave borders so you can close the pastry. Top with half the spinach. Spread 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard over the mushrooms season with salt and pepper. Place the mushrooms on top of the spinach. Top with some thyme leaves and remaining spinach* and onions.

*Take care to drain and spread the spinach carefully. I did not and thought it was too clumped up in places.

Carefully fold each side of the pastry over the top. Press down to seal the edges. Turn/roll log over with the seam facing the bottom. Beat one egg and lightly coat with an egg wash. Place your Wellington in to the freezer for 10 minutes then repeat another egg wash and freeze another 10 minutes. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden and flakey.

The Mushroom Wellington was paired with a simple salmon and cucumber salad.

Seasonal Squash Tart. Preheat the oven at 350 F. Line a baking pan with parchment or a silpat. Place the sheet of pastry on it. Use a fork to “dock” or poke holes in the pastry to prevent rising.

Cover with another sheet of parchment and place dried beans or pie weights over the surface. Bake about 20 minutes and remove from oven, cool.

Turn oven up to 400 F. Line a second baking sheet with foil, arrange the butternut squash* (one medium peeled and cut into large cubes) and 3 garlic cloves in a single layer. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, remove and cool.

*I added some cooked sweet potato left over from Thanksgiving to the squash/garlic.

Turn oven down to 375 F. When the squash is cooled, put into a food processor with ¼ cup heavy cream (I omitted) ½ tsp. lemon zest, and 2-3  tablespoons goat cheese.

Final step … spread butternut squash purée in an even layer on the puff pastry, leaving a thin border along all four edges. Arrange slice thinly one medium yellow squash and one medium zucchini*, arrange over the top, overlapping slightly. Drizzle a little oil over the top, dot with 2-3 tablespoons goat cheese. Bake about 30 minutes until the squash is slightly browned. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature.

*I just had a zucchini in my fridge.

I paired the tart with lamb shanks and dirty rice (using an eggplant and green pepper that needed to be used).

Our fridge is filled with tasty leftovers to be picked at the few hours we are home in the coming melee that is Art Week. Stay tuned