New Way With An Onion Tart

I've made my favorite onion tart a number of times and blogged about it, so it shouldn't be too surprising that I'm doing that again. Each time I change something. One time I used pie dough instead of puff pastry, one time I used tart dough, another time I changed some of the topping ingredients...you get the idea. With the changes in patterns due to shelter-in-place, I've had more time to prepare some ingredients ahead and that made this tart an easy addition to a recent dinner.

This time I started with the puff pastry tart bottom but I didn't dock it or roll it out or anything, just unfolded it after it thawed and went from there. The toppings were what changed the most. I started by spreading about 3/4 cup non-dairy ricotta cheese over the unbaked puff pastry base, leaving about an inch free of topping at each edge. Then I pulled the jar of already caramelized onions from the fridge. A few days before I had used my small slow cooker to caramelize them which is a really easy way to do it. You start with one or two peel, halved, thinly sliced onions and top with a tablespoon of olive oil, then just cook on slow for 6-8 hours, stirring now and then. To save them in the fridge I put them into a tall narrow jar and added some olive oil on the top as a sort of seal.

So there was this lovely mess of caramelized onion with a little olive oil mixed in...about 1 cup. I added 2 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon sherry and mixed it well. This concoction was spread lightly over the ricotta on the tart. Then I sprinkled on a bit of nutmeg...about 1/8 teaspoon and about 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme. Last, but not least, I scattered a slice and a half already cooked bacon, crumbled, over it all.

The tart was baked in a 400 degree preheated oven, on a baking stone, with the tart on a piece of parchment. This nice direct connection with the stone's heat gave the bottom of the tart a nice brown flakiness, but if you don't have a baking stone, just put it on a baking sheet and it will still be wonderful. I baked it until the top of the tart edges were dark golden brown and puffy. After letting it cool about 5 minutes, I sliced it in nine pieces and Sweetie and I enjoyed it...a lot. We had it as part of our meal, along with salad and a grilled chicken thigh, but it makes a great appetizer, too. If you use it for that, cut it into smaller squares or rectangles.

This is a pretty quick recipe if you have the onions already caramelized, the bacon already cooked and the puff pastry thawed (all of which I did), but even without that, you can use uncooked onions mixed with the wine and honey instead of the caramelized onions, and it only takes a few minutes to pre-cook the bacon...perhaps while you thaw the pastry?

Hope you try this and enjoy it!

XO, Elle