Chicken & Bacon Tart — The Comfort I Needed While Chasing a Dream

September. The month that tastes like soup and sounds like school starting and feels like the year shifting from one gear to another. Caleb is in his preschool routine. Hazel is seven months old, eating purées and soft foods, and has started crawling — the commando crawl, flat on her belly, using her arms to pull herself forward. She's headed for the kitchen. Always the kitchen. Because the kitchen is where the action is and this girl, like her brother, like her mother, like her grandmother, gravitates toward the stove. Sarah called with news: a publisher is interested. A BIG publisher. One of the New York houses. They read the proposal for 'For All the Donnas' and they want to meet. A meeting. With a major publisher. About a book about women who cook against the odds. 'They love the concept,' Sarah said. 'They love the voice. They want to see a sample chapter.' A sample chapter. I need to write a sample chapter for a major publisher. While nursing a seven-month-old. While managing a preschooler. While writing a blog, a column, and RecipeSpinoff posts. This is insane. This is the most insane thing. 'When?' I asked. 'Three weeks.' Three weeks. To write a sample chapter that could land a major book deal. Three weeks. I'm doing it. Obviously. Of course I'm doing it. I'm a military wife. We do impossible things on impossible timelines. That's the whole brand. I called Mom. 'A big publisher wants a sample chapter.' 'When?' 'Three weeks.' 'Then you write it in three weeks. What do you need from me?' 'Recipes. Stories. The things you haven't told me yet. The things about the early deployments, the first years, the hardest cooking.' 'I'll tell you. Call me tomorrow at seven. I'll have stories.' She'll have stories. She has THIRTY YEARS of stories. The woman is a library of military wife cooking and she's opening the archives. Made Mom's chicken soup tonight. The thinking soup. The writing soup. The soup that means 'something big is happening and I need to be quiet and eat and think.' Three weeks. A sample chapter. A major publisher. The soup is warm. The keyboard is waiting. The stories are coming. Here we go.

With a three-week deadline, a seven-month-old commando-crawling toward the stove, and Mom’s stories queued up and waiting, I needed something warm and substantial on the table that didn’t demand my full attention. This Chicken & Bacon Tart is that dish — hearty enough to feel like real comfort, simple enough to pull together while your mind is already halfway into a sample chapter. It’s the kind of food that says, “Sit down, eat, think big,” and that’s exactly what I did.

Chicken & Bacon Tart

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
• 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Fresh chives for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out puff pastry and press into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim excess dough and prick the bottom with a fork. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
2. Par-bake the crust. Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the weights and parchment. Bake 3 minutes more until the bottom looks dry. Set aside.
3. Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the diced onion until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
4. Make the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, milk, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and dried thyme until smooth.
5. Assemble the tart. Spread the sautéed onion and garlic over the par-baked crust. Layer the shredded chicken and crumbled bacon evenly. Sprinkle both cheeses over the top. Pour the custard mixture over everything.
6. Bake. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set and the top is golden brown. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
7. Cool and serve. Let the tart rest for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Garnish with fresh chives if desired. Slice and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 485 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 34g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 620mg