Welcome to Fall! I think of squash and pumpkin, cranberries and hearty soups, stews and goulash and most of all satisfying comfort food. The Fall spells chaos to parents of school age kids (we have 3 in grammar school); but, can be very comforting from a culinary point of few. It’s goodbye salads and hello comfort food! This recipe bridges the transition from summer to Fall well – it’s not too heavy, but very satisfying!
I never make one Gougere – I always make two at a time. The second one becomes leftovers or can be frozen for a week or two. Now that I feed 5 hungry mouths at every meal, it goes too quickly to bother and freeze the second pie! This recipe makes one pie only, so I double it.
While researching for this website, I found a very similar recipe to this curst recipe – “the classic Choux” (the addition of milk being the only difference, sometimes some sugar can also be added to choux as well). This is a savory choux, the sweet kind are used as vessels for cream puffs, éclairs and profiteroles. No wonder I love this crust so much!
Ingredient List for filling:
1 pound 90% lean ground beef (Or, if you like mushrooms then use less meat and add ½ cup mushrooms – baby bella work well)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove small dice
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (Or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
¾ cup (3 ounces) shredded part skim or whole milk mozzarella cheese
Ingredients for the crust:
¼ cup butter
¾ cup cold water
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 10-inch round baking dish. Prepare filling by chopping onion, mincing the garlic clove, chopping fresh thyme (or measuring out dry), and if using mushrooms clean and slice them too.
Tip: Never run water over the mushrooms, use a damp clean dish towel and wipe them off instead, or clean off using a small mushroom brush.
If you didn’t buy pre-shredded cheese then shred the mozzarella now and set aside. Prepare for the crust by putting the butter in a saucepan with the cold water. Pull out the eggs. Mix the flour in a bowl with the salt.
Filling: Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Once it is just browned through drain some of the grease away. Add your onions, garlic, thyme and if desired mushrooms. Cook this until tender on med-low heat. While the flavored beef is cooking, you can start on the crust. Once the onions and mushrooms are tender (only takes 4-6 minutes), season with salt and pepper and turn off the burner.
How to make the crust: Bring the butter and water to a boil and then turn off the heat once it starts to boil. Add the flour/salt mixture all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and forms a ball. Move the flour mixture to a bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition with a wooden spoon, so the egg is fully incorporated. Thinly spread dough onto bottom and up sides of your greased baking dish.
Fill crust with the ground beef mixture. Bake the gougere in preheated oven for 25 minutes – or until crust is puffed and golden brown. Sprinkle the meat with the shredded cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. Slice like a pizza and serve warm. Not bad as a leftover heated in the microwave the next day either.
Best served with steamed, sliced carrots tossed with butter and thyme or broccoli
