Onion Tart

Recipe from My French Kitchen : A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes

For the pastry:
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
12 T (1.5 sticks) chilled unsalted butter cut into small pieces
2 lg egg yolks, lightly beaten
Dried beans for baking the shell

For the filling:
3 T unsalted butter
2 T olive olive oil
1 lb yellow onions finely sliced
2/3 c half and half or light cream
2 lg eggs
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Make the pastry. Put the flour in a large bowl, add the butter, and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Using a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion, combine the egg yolks with the mix until a dough ball forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead until the dough is even and smooth, then wrap and refrigerate to chill for 30 mins.

Heat the oven to 400 deg F.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line a 12-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom, making sure there are no cracks. Return to the refrigerator to chill for another 20 min, then line with parchment paper and fill with the dried beans. Bake for 20 min, reduce the heat to 325 deg F, and bake for about 15 min more, or until the pastry is golden and set. Remove from the oven.

While the pastry is baking, make the filling. Melt the butter with the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook over low heat for 30 min. This long, slow method of cooking makes the onions melt; do not allow them to brown or frizzle.

Mix the cream, eggs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Put the cooked onions in the baked pastry shell, carefully pour in the egg mixture, and then return the tart to the oven to cook for 25 to 30 min. Serve warm or cold.

Comments

This was a partial success. First, I used a pilsberry crust because I started cooking only 1.5 hours before the guests were supposed to arrive. I didn't have parchment paper and I was afraid wax paper would get wax on it, so I didn't put beans on it. Big mistake the crust puffed up. I also over cooked it. For the last baking (at 325) of the crust alone the time should have been much shorter. When I tried to put the filling in the crust it leaked out because the puffing lead to cracking. I think it is probably a good recipe but it is very important to have not wholes/cracks in the crust since the egg,cream mixture is very thin. People liked it anyway. Better luck next time.




My French Kitchen : A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes