French Onion Tartlets Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spray both sides of bread and press bread into small 12 cup muffin tin. If you do not own a muffin tin, disposable tins are available on the baking aisle of market. Place bread in oven and toast until golden, 7 or 8 minutes. Remove and reserve.
• In a skillet, melt butter into oil. Add onions and bay leaf, season with thyme, salt and pepper. Cook onions until caramel colored, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Turn broiler on.
• Place spoonfuls of cooked onions in toasted bread cups. Discard bay leaf. Cover onions with cheese and set tarts under hot broiler to bubble and brown cheese. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Unroll pie dough 1 at a time. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and cut as many rounds as possible (about 14 to 16), reserving scraps repeat with second pie dough. Gather together scrap dough and cut out as many rounds as needed to make 24 in total. Fit dough rounds into cups of mini muffin pan. Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, half-and-half, golden onion soup mix, and fines herbs. Set aside. Divide onions among tartlet shells, about 1/2 teaspoon each. Stir the egg mixture and fill tartlets to cover the onions. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon of cheese. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

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 oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place the bacon into a skillet, and cook over medium heat until browned. Remove bacon from skillet, reserving 4 tablespoons bacon fat, and drain on paper towels.
• Place the onions into the same skillet with the bacon fat, and cook over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the milk and cream in a bowl. Sprinkle the flour over the onions, and stir to blend. Stir in the milk mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in the bacon, and set aside to cool 10 minutes.
• Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until light colored and frothy. Stir a spoonful of the onion mixture into the eggs. Add another spoonful of the onion mixture, and continue stirring. Repeat, until all the onions have been stirred into the eggs and are thoroughly blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
• Bake in preheated oven until the crust is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool 5 minutes before serving.

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:

• 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:

• In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onions and sugar. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the onions are golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in water and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese., Melt remaining butter. Place one sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface; brush with butter. Brush to distribute evenly. Repeat with a second sheet; brush with butter. Cut into 12 squares. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent drying.) Repeat three times, making 48 squares., Press one square into a greased miniature muffin cup. Top with another square of phyllo, placing corners off center. Spoon about 1 tablespoon onion mixture into cup. Repeat with remaining phyllo squares and onion mixture. Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor with the 100g butter. Blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add 50g of the cheese, 1 tbsp of the thyme leaves, some freshly ground black pepper and 1 tsp salt. Blitz again briefly to combine. Add 2-3 tbsp cold water, and pulse again until it comes together into a dough. If you don't have a food processor, do this in a bowl - rub the flour into the butter first, then stir in the remaining ingredients with a knife. Wrap and chill for at least 40 mins.
• Meanwhile, heat the 25g butter and the olive oil in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat, and cook the onions with a pinch of salt for 40-50 mins, stirring often, until sticky, golden and very soft when pressed with the back of a spoon. If they start to catch, reduce the heat further and add a splash of water. Be patient, as they will take a while to caramelise, but keep your eye on the pan so they don't burn.
• Stir in the vinegar, sugar and the anchovies. Keep stirring until the vinegar has evaporated, and the anchovies have dissolved into the onions. Remove from the heat.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and roll the pastry out onto a lightly floured work surface to a 3mm thickness. Use the pastry to line a 23cm tart tin (use the rolling pin to help you do this). Trim the edges so they're just overhanging the sides. Patch the pastry with the offcuts, if needed. Scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment, then open it out again to line the pastry, and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 mins, remove the parchment and beans, then bake for a further 5-8 mins, or until the pastry looks dry, without any raw spots.
• Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cream, remaining thyme and the rest of the cheese together with a pinch each of salt and black pepper. Stir in the caramelised onions. Trim the sides of the pastry using a serrated knife to neaten the edges. Pour the filling into the pastry case and tap the tin gently on the work surface to release any bubbles.
• Bake the quiche for 25-30 mins on the middle shelf of the oven until lightly golden and set in the middle, with a slight wobble. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 15-20 mins, then slice. To make the salad, whisk the olive oil and vinegar together in a bowl, then toss in the remaining ingredients. Pile the salad on top of the quiche, or serve alongside. If you like, leave the quiche to cool completely, then chill before serving. Will keep in the fridge for up to three days.