Christmas seems like a long time ago, but my memory of an onion tart my daughter-in-law made remains fresh and vivid. She based the tart on Deborah Madison’s recipe in Vegetable Literacy. It was beautiful and delicious. (The recipe that follows is Julia Moskin’s adaptation of it for the New York Times.)
Deborah Madison’s Onion Tart
- Yield 4 main course servings, or 6 to 8 appetizer servings
- Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 ½ pounds onions (about 3 medium), preferably white
- 2 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into small pieces, optional
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 heaping teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 2 pinches dried
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup crème fraîche or cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup grated aged Gouda or Gruyère
For the crust
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons white whole-wheat or spelt flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, cut into small bits
Preparation
- To make the filling, cut onions in half, peel them, and if they are strong, put them in a bowl of cold water. It doesn’t take long for that to reduce their sting. Finely dice them.
- If you’re using bacon, fry until browned and nearly crisp, then scoop out and drain on a paper towel. Throw out bacon grease, wipe out the pan and add 2 tablespoons butter. When melted, add onions, thyme and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. The onions needn’t be caramelized, but should just take on a faint golden hue. When done, let them cool slightly. Taste for salt (they’ll be very sweet, you might want to add more) and season well with pepper.
- While onions cook, whisk eggs with crème fraîche and milk. Stir in cooled onions, cheese and bacon, if using.
- To make the crust, put flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 6 tablespoons butter and turn the mixer to low speed until butter has broken into small, pebble-size pieces. Drizzle in ice water until the dough looks clumpy and damp. (You’ll use about 3 tablespoons, fewer if butter was soft.) Form dough into a disk or a rectangle to correspond to the shape pan you’re using. You have a few choices: a 9-inch tart pan, a square tart pan or a rectangular one (11 by 81/2 inches), all with removable bottoms. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough to fit the tart pan, then drape dough in the pan. Neatly press dough into the pan and shape it. Set it on a sheet pan. Pour onion mixture into a tart pan, and bake until the surface is golden and browned in places, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool to warm before cutting into slices and serving.
This locally inspired recipe is brought to you by Pam Walker. Pam is an avid home cook, writer, and local farm and food activist who is also a board member of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute. Thank you, Pam, for helping inspire us to use locally sourced ingredients!