Served this as an appetizer at my sister-in-law's holiday dinner last night. The duck confit was homemade with mostly olive oil rather than duck fat. Very rich, very tasty. It's based on a barefoot contessa recipe from foodnetwork. Also, my tart pan is in storage until we move so I just made it in a 9 inch pie pan. I love pie.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
1/4 tsp salt for the crust
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic diced
6 scallions whites only chopped
1 medium onion diced
about 1/3 cup shredded duck confit
10 ounces goat cheese - I found some lavendar and anise flavored goat cheese at whole foods that worked well.
1 cup cream - I used whole milk
3 extra-large eggs
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, put the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut the butter and the vegetable shortening into large dice, add to the bowl, and pulse until the fat is the size of peas. With the machine running, add the ice water all at once and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Don't overprocess. Dump the dough out on a floured board, gather it loosely into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough on a well-floured board and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable sides, rolling the pin over the top to cut off the excess dough. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil and fit it, butter side down, into the tart pan. Fill the foil with rice or beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil from the tart shell, prick the bottom all over with a fork, and bake for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan and saute the scallions and onion over low heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes until fragrant. Add the duck and cook for a few minutes to flavor the duck. Set aside.
Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, basil, and the pepper and process until blended.
Scatter the cooked onions/garlic/duck over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the goat cheese mixture over the onions and duck to fill the shell (if the shell has shrunk, there may be leftover filling). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.
This is a very wine friendly appetizer. We drank the last of my Vin du Bugey Cerdon and some white Burgundy chardonnay (provided by my brother in law so I don't have the details.) Would like to have tried a red burg as well but we didn't get around to it.
By the way, the 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening crust is the flakiest and one of the the tastiest pie crust ever.
