Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Free-form Onion Tart

Free-Form Onion Tart

If you find yourself with a little bit of time this weekend...Make. This. Tart. I cannot say enough about it. It takes some time with the chilling of dough and caramelizing of onions, but the steps themselves are super easy and well worth the effort.

Free-form Onion Tart

The crust is flaky and buttery and so easy to work with. I think it is one of the best pie crusts I have ever made. I will use it from now on. The sweet onions with the lemony thyme are an absolute dream. All this needs is a salad dressed simply with lemon juice and olive oil and of course of glass of wine and you will be in simple supper heaven.

Free-Form Onion Tart




Free-Form Onion Tart
(Slightly adapted from Food & Wine, May 2009)

Makes 4-6 servings

For the dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (approx., I used a little bit less)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
5 tablespoons ice cold water

For the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 pounds sweet onions, thinly sliced
6 thyme sprigs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk or water for egg wash

To Make the Dough: In a bowl, whisk the flour with the salt. Using your fingers or a dough blender, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the water over the flour and stir gently just until incorporated; gently press to form a dough. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: In a skillet, melt the butter and olive oil. Add the onions and thyme and cook over moderately high heat, until softened, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook, until the onions are golden, 20-40 minutes longer (note, the onions will continue to cook in the oven so it is not necessary to completely caramelize them). Remove from the heat and discard the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Position a rack on the lowest rung and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (if using foil, spray with cooking spray). On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 10-inch round and transfer to the baking sheet. Spread the onions on the round, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the edge of the dough up and over the filling and brush the edge with the egg wash.

Bake the tart on the bottom shelf for about 40 minutes, until the dough is richly browned on the bottom.

Transfer the tart to the top shelf and bake for about 5 minutes longer, until the top of the crust is browned. Transfer the tart to a rack and let cool slightly. Cut the warm tart into wedges and serve.

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35 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

god that sounds good. I love onions that are full of flavor. you did a really good job on the crust, nice even turns.

Anonymous said...

Mmm... this onion tart looks beautiful and sound just scrumptious!

Marta said...

How's your first week back at work going? I hope not too stressful :)
Caramelising onions does take some time (I find it always takes me up to 1 hour, even though recipes always say 20 min!) but they're totally worth it!
I'll make this tart dough because I hate my recipe and I've been on the lookout for a new one!
Thanks!

The Wind Attack said...

Caramelized goodness! Do you have any leftovers?!?!?

Carrie said...

Very pretty! Sounds so light and summery.

Mary Bergfeld said...

This looks incredibly delicious. There is not an ingredient here that I do not like.

Diana said...

Mmm caramelized sweet onions are the best! I'd almost eat this for dessert! Well, as long as I could get a piece of chocolate after! :)

Cathy said...

This looks delicious - I love caramelized onions in any kind of dish!

Creative Classroom Core said...

This makes for such a beautiful presentation!

angela@spinachtiger said...

Onion tart is one of those things on my "to make one day" list. I know where to come.

Erica said...

This sounds SO SO good. Everything you make just looks beautiful Esi! I'm so jealous! I love onions and I can just imagine how delicious it is with that awesome crust!

2 days til the weekend ;)

Steph said...

Oh YUM! This looks really good!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

Love the presentation of this tart. Would be perfect at a party.

Kerstin said...

I love caramelized onions and would gobble that tart right up - it looks fantastic!

Chef Fresco said...

I love caramelized onions! I bet this is really amazing.

Reeni said...

You've easily convinced me! Caramelized onions are one of the greatest things I know! All wrapped up in this flaky tart - how heavenly!

daxphillips said...

Good work. I have also been experimenting a lot lately on different uses for caramelized onions, but the onion pie? Come on now, that just sound way too delicious, especially for a weekend treat.

Christina Kim said...

Esi, please enlighten me on how to properly caramelize onions?? Why do mine never caramelize, but rather, turn into a slightly brown onion paste? This tart is just beautiful.

Esi said...

Is it just me or is this week speeding by? As always, thank you all for the kind words.

Marta, first week back is ok so far. I am pretty busy and about to get busier!

Andy, the leftovers became my lunch for the week. Still delicious!

Helene, I am thinking of doing this for a party soon. I loved it so much.

Christina, my onions were only slightly golden until I put them in the oven. I think the secret to real caramelized onions is just low heat and A LOT of time.

Fearless Kitchen said...

Y'know, my free-form tarts never, ever look this good. The recipe looks really delicious too!

Rachel J said...

I love how much sweetness you can pull out of the onion. We make a version of onion pie with tons of cheese, but I would love to give this a whirl!

unconfidentialcook said...

I love any kind of onion tart...especially with carmelized onions. Yours is really beautiful--I love its free-formness.

Hayley said...

This looks incredible! Caramelized onions are the best. Thanks for sharing!

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Esi, this tart is beautiful. I love caramelized onions. Definitely a meal I would enjoy.

Sara said...

Now this is something I can get behind. You have combined two of my favorite things to eat. I will try this one out for sure.

Mathilde said...

I have always been a huge fan of onion tart and this one is a hit!

Cookin' Canuck said...

Absolutely beautiful! The color of the caramelized onions drew me in. I'm very interested to try the crust recipe since you said it was so easy to work with. Great recipe!

s. stockwell said...

This is such a winner! We will make this for dinner on Saturday. Thanks, s

Joy said...

Gorgeous tart, beautiful crust (I'm a sucker for crusts)...it's enough to make me want to try this even as an onion-evader. :)

Cathy said...

Love your blog! Left you an award over on mine.

test it comm said...

Those onions look perfectly caramelized and good!

Summer said...

That looks amazing!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Gorgeous! I definitely want to make this soon! I don't think I have the coordination to make it as pretty as yours though.

melissa said...

i made this tonight and it turned out great! i used half whole wheat flour and half regular flour just to make it a little healthier, and used local vidalia onions from the farmers market, and lemon thyme since thats what we grow at home. i think i should have let my onions carmelize a little more before putting the tart together because i didn't get that nice brown color - i thought they would cook a little more in the oven than they did. overall great recipe and easy to modify with different flavors... thanks!

Esi said...

Melissa, so glad you enjoyed it.