Andres Onion Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a deep 23cm fluted flan tin. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 mins.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan, then gently fry the onions, covered, for about 30 mins until completely softened, but still pale in colour.
• Beat the eggs and cream together in a bowl, then add the cheese and some seasoning. Stir in the onions, then spoon the mixture into the flan case. Bake for 25-30 mins until lightly set and browned.

Steps:

• Butter a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom; set aside.
• Make the crust: In a medium bowl, combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled butter, and combine with fingers or a pastry blender until it has the texture of coarse meal. Add 1/2 cup ice water, and stir just until a dough forms. Form into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch-thick round. Fit dough into prepared tart pan; trim excess. Line with a parchment paper round, and fill with pie weights. Chill for 15 minutes. Transfer to oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and parchment paper. Bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven, and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly browned and softened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• In a small bowl, combine beaten egg, cream, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in onions.
• Sprinkle baked tart shell with cheese. Spread onion mixture evenly over cheese. Bake until set, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• To make the pastry, process the flour, butter and water together in a food processor for a few minutes until a rough dough forms. Remove, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
• Roll the dough out on a floured bench and gently press into the tin. Trim the pastry to fit and reserve the left-over pastry to patch any cracks.
• To blind-bake the tart, line the pastry shell with foil and fill with baking weights or uncooked rice or beans. Bake until cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. If there are any cracks, patch with the left- over pastry.
• While the tart shell is baking, prepare the filling.
• In a large frying pan over low to medium heat, sauté the onion in the oil until very soft and light brown. This may take up to an hour. Set aside to cool slightly. Beat the egg yolks with the cream. Add the nutmeg and season well with salt and pepper. Stir the onion through the cream mixture.
• Carefully fill the pastry shell with the filling, place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the filling is set. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Blend flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Scatter butter over flour, top with lid and pulse 12 pulses to cut butter into flour to a coarse meal consistency.
• Dump butter-flour mixture into a medium stainless bowl. Make a well in the center and pour ice-cold water into the well.
• Using a flexible plastic dough scraper instead of your warm hands, bring the dough together by folding and pressing. Be firm and brisk and get the dough past its shaggy stage into a neat disk, trying to avoid using your hands or too much kneading. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Meanwhile, cut the onions in half and peel them. Slice the halves with the ribs (root end to sprout end direction), not against, to create julienne slices rather than half moons.
• In a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt the bacon fat and slowly sweat the onions until they are caramelized. Take all the minutes you need - 25 or so - to let them soften to translucent, then to let the water they release start to evaporate, then to allow the sugars they contain to start to brown in the pan, so that you end up with soft, sweet and evenly browned onions. This is achieved by a slow caramelization. Set onions aside to cool.
• Roll tart dough out to a 1/4-inch-thick round, and drape over a round 10-inch fluted false-bottom tart pan. Lay dough into the pan, gently pressing into the bottom, and roll the pin across the pan to cut off the excess dough. Use your fingers to press the edges into the flutes, accentuating the shape of the dough edge. Dock the bottom of the dough with the tines of a fork, weight the pastry with beans or weight and blind-bake for 25 minutes.
• In a bowl, beat the egg with the cream. Stir in the caramelized onions. Season with pepper, nutmeg and salt to taste. Stir well, and make sure the onions are all evenly coated with the custard.
• Remove tart shell from oven, and slip it onto a baking sheet. Remove weights, fill with the onion-custard mixture and distribute it evenly. Return tart to oven on the sheet, and bake for 25 minutes, or until custard has set, the tops of the onions start to achieve a deeper brown and the dough is dark golden brown at the edges.
• Remove from the ring, and allow to cool just a few minutes on the rack, so that the piping hot tart shell can kind of tighten up enough to be sliced with a sharp chef's knife. (In the first few minutes straight out of the oven, the dough is kind of soft from the heat, possibly giving you the false impression that you have a soggy tart. Let it sit on the rack just to shake off this initial soft stage and to recrisp and refirm, which it will.) Cut into wedges, and serve while hot.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a work surface, roll the puff pastry into a roughly 10 by 16-inch rectangle. With a sharp knife, trim uneven edges to make a perfect rectangle. Evenly cut off the outer 1 inch of each side of the rectangle in strips; put the puff sheet on the baking sheet. Dip your finger in water and run around the top edges of the rectangle and replace the removed strips of pastry along the edges of the sheet, pressing lightly to adhere. With a fork, pierce the interior of the tart shell to prevent rising; do not pierce the adhered edges. Bake until the outer edges have puffed and are golden in color; about 15 minutes. Set aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and thyme sprigs and season well with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown. Add the stock, a tablespoon at a time, as the pan gets dry, scraping and stirring the brown bits that are stuck to the bottom oft the pan. When the onions are caramelized to a dark golden color, remove from the heat and discard the leafless thyme sprigs (the leaves fall off while cooking).
• When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly spread the caramelized onions on the cooked pastry shell and heat in the oven until warmed through, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven, to a cutting board and cut into wedges. Arrange on a serving platter and garnish each wedge with a sprig of fresh thyme. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Steps:

• 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 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 mixer to low speed until butter has broken into small, pebble-size pieces. Drizzle in ice water until 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 tart pan, then drape dough in pan. Neatly press dough into pan and shape it. Set it on a sheet pan. Pour onion mixture into tart pan, and bake until surface is golden and browned in places, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool to warm before cutting into slices and serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Put olive oil in a wide skillet or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When oil is wavy, add onions and cook, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper.
• Add leeks, garlic and thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes, until leeks are softened but still bright green. Taste and adjust seasoning, then spread mixture on a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.
• Lay pastry round on a rimmed parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread cooled onion mixture over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold over the border and crimp.
• Sprinkle capers evenly over onion mixture. Arrange anchovy fillets on top.
• Bake for 45 minutes, until the pastry is nicely browned. Cool tart for 5 minutes, then sprinkle the chives on top and cut into wedges to serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Slide a baking sheet in to heat. Roll the pastry out enough to line a deep 20cm flan tin or a shallow 23cm one. Chill for 10 mins.
• Put a few balls of crumpled foil in the base of the pastry case and bake on the baking sheet for 10 mins. Remove the foil and bake for 5 mins more, until light golden.
• Meanwhile, cook the onions in the oil until starting to soften, then add thyme, pepper, and salt if you want to. Cook slowly for about 15 mins until the onions are soft and tinged brown.
• Beat the eggs, beat in the milk and half the cheese and some pepper. Spread the onions over the flan case and pour in the egg mix. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake the tart on the baking sheet for 30-40 mins until the filling is firm and golden, and the pastry crisp. Serve warm or cold.

Steps:

• Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. , In a small skillet, saute onions in oil until tender; cool. In a food processor, combine the eggs, feta cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and hot pepper sauce; cover and process until smooth. Gradually add cream and milk; process until blended., Brush the inside of crust with mustard. Sprinkle the green onions, chives and sauteed onions over crust. Carefully pour egg mixture over onions. Top with Parmesan cheese. , Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.