Name: Mini Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Apple Tarts
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1/2 large yellow onions (chopped); 1 teaspoon salt (plus more, to taste); 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided in half); 1 (8 oz) package white mushrooms (chopped); 1 clove garlic (minced); 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme; 2 tablespoons white wine; 1 large Granny Smith Apple (peeled and chopped ); 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar; 1 oz Gruyère cheese (grated); 1 oz goat cheese ( (from a log not crumbled)); 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh chives (optional); 1 (1.9 oz) box frozen mini fillo shells

If you’re looking for bite sized appetizers to serve a crowd look no further because these mini caramelized onion, mushroom, and apple tarts are just a little sweet, a lot of savory, and have an amazing texture! Crunchy from the shell, and creamy and soft from the filling.

True or false. Making something mini makes it taste better. True! Like these mini pumpkin cupcakes or these eggnog donut muffins. So yummy, so cute. You know what’s also yummy and cute? These mini caramelized onion, mushroom, and apple tarts. Ohhh yea, these are super yummy and extra cute. I used store bought mini tart shells, and stuffed them with onions, mushrooms, apples, gruyere and goat cheese. It’s a great mini, bite sized, sophisticated appetizer for any occasion.

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Trevor and I love having people over for dinner. We love menu planning, we love cooking, and we love entertaining. We definitely have our go-to meal for people we invite over for the first time. Typically, Trevor makes his famous peppered shrimp alfredo (I promise the recipe is coming, he needs to get on that! ;)) and I’ll make my pear blue cheese candied pecan salad, while we all munch on a french baguette with spicy balsamic and olive oil. We’ll then end the meal with my favorite ooey-gooey one bowl brownies, or last weekend, I made my light greek yogurt cream cheese cheesecake.

We have our routine down. Everything is really easy to put together, so we can still chat while we’re cooking, and everybody seems to really enjoy the peppered shrimp alfredo (unless they don’t like shrimp, of course) and the salad is always a huge hit! Last weekend I wanted to mix it up a bit. Appetizers are my favorite part of the meal, yet I hardly ever serve them when we have guests over! You don’t want to start out a meal too rich, or too big, or people might get full before the meal has even started. And trust me when I say you really don’t want to miss Trevor’s pasta or that cheesecake.

I started thinking about a light, mini way to serve up appetizers for when our friends came over. I remembered that Trevor had made an onion galette when he took some cooking classes at Sur La Table. That was all I needed. I wanted to make an onion galette, but in mini form. Then came in the mushrooms, because I’m currently obsessed with them, apples to add a little sweetness, and of course, what’s a dish without cheese? Grueyre and goat cheese reign supreme over almost all other cheese, except I do have a special thing for gouda. And monterey jack. And pepper jack. And…well…you know. I guess I just love cheese. From those ingredients came my mini caramelized onion, mushroom, and apple tarts.

Start by dicing some onion, mushroom, apple, and mincing some garlic. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add in vegetable oil and then the diced onions. Season with salt and let these cook until golden brown and caramelized. This will take about 20 minutes.

Once the onions are nice and golden, remove from the pan and place in a bowl. Set aside. In the same pan, add in butter. Let the butter melt and then add in mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender, or have reached your desired texture. Mushrooms release a lot of moisture, so let this evaporate. Then add in minced garlic and dried thyme and saute for another minute. Add in white wine, scraping up any mushrooms bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Taste and season with a pinch salt, if necessary!

Remove these from the pan and place with the onions.

Again, in the same pan, heat another tablespoon of butter. Let this melt, and add apples and a touch of sugar. Stir to combine. Cook the chopped apple for about 8 – 10 minutes, or until the apples start to caramelize and are soft.

Once soft, place in the same bowl as the mushrooms and onion. Into the mixture, stir in shredded gruyere and goat cheese. Taste and re-season with salt if needed!

Now, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Remove the store bought mini pastry tart shells and fill with the onion, mushroom, apple, and cheese mixture. Bake these for 5 – 10 minutes, or until the mixture is hot!

Top with minced fresh chives and serve immediately!

These mini caramelized onion, mushroom, and apple tarts were a hit with our guests… or they were just being very polite, just kidding, these definitely got the Trevor stamp of approval 😉 I love the ease of using store bought mini pastry shells (I used Athens and they’re called mini fillo shells. You can find them in the freezer section) and although there is a little time involved, the flavors developed are pretty incredible. White wine, garlic, and thyme are magical ingredients.

If you’re looking for bite sized appetizers to serve a crowd, or just for a nice dinner at home for two, look no further because these mini caramelized onion, mushroom, and apple tarts are just a little sweet, a lot of savory, and have an amazing texture! Crunchy from the shell, and creamy and soft from the filling. The perfect bite if you ask me!