Yes, you!
I’m posting a recipe about a carmalised onion tart and I don’t want to be responsible for your reaction!
You see my friend Carole is allergic to onions, the whole of the onion family. Yes that means GARLIC! I’m still trying to come to terms with this. Lawd knows how she is!
I picked up the idea for this party food from a magazine at the hairdressers – A Jamie Oliver Christmas promotional special, and made it for our leaving for the Alps bash. Yes I’m still writing that one up!
Caramalised Onion Tart
Ingredients ~
- 8 large onions
- olive oil for shallow frying
- A pinch or two of fresh thyme
- A dash or two of Balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- Ready made shortcrust or puff pastry (frozen and de-frosted)
- Feta cheese
Method ~
- Peel, halve and thinly slice the onions
- Put them in a pan and gently fry them in the olive oil until they start to caramalise. This takes a goodly while. And you will need to stir the onions every now and then so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
- When they have started to brown add a pinch of thyme
- Near the end of their cooking add a dash or two of balsamic vinegar and stir and cook off the liquid.
- Add a pinch of salt and some black pepper
- On a greased baking sheet roll out the pastry
- Cover the pastry with the onion mixture
- Sprinkle another pinch of thyme and the crumble some feta cheese on top (not much, don’t drown it!)
- Put the tart in the oven on a high heat and cook until the pastry has browned and gone golden, about 20 minutes.
- Take the tart out of the oven and with a sharp knife slice the tart into bite sized/small pieces.
- Done!
Gardening Notes ~
There aren’t any really. So far I have resisted the temptation to grow onions. As the Mountain Man says “plant an onion get an onion”. What he means is that if you plant onion sets all you get a few months later is slightly larger onions. I understand what he means. It’s a lot of effort and time, including useful gardening ground to waste on something where the reward isn’t great.
I have planted shallots – those were worth it, they are hugely expensive in the shops, so there is an instant gain. Plus as you plant one shallot as they grow they split into half a dozen shallots. Result! I’ve also tried my hand and growing Walking Onions, aka Egyptian Onions. They behave a bit like shallots in that they multiply. And you simply pull one when you want to eat it, and re-plant the rest. The same is true for Welsh Onions, which I’ve used to edge one of my beds.
I could try some onions from seed, I fancy growing the white onions you see in shops all over Europe, but not in Hastings and St Leonards. They are sweet and mild and perfect for salads. Maybe this year…. But one thing I need to be mindful of is that last year I discovered White Rot on the garlic crop. So now my growing space is even more precious, and careful rotation needed.
Oh your poor friend – that´s a tough allergy to have. I have made this tart and it´s delicious – sweet, oniony, juicy…yum! We have planted some sweet Spanish onions, some red salad onions and garlic…but you´re right. Plant an onion, get an onion!
It is a toughie, and with the amount of garlic and onions we eat a tricky one sometimes to remember when cooking!
Thanks for the warning! Won’t be trying out this recipe. Yes it is a very difficult allergy to have. What makes it even worse is that it only started a few years ago, before that I could eat onion,garlic etc to my heart’s content. So I know what I am missing! Luckily I have been able to introduce a small amount of garlic back into my diet which is a relief as I love the stuff, but the onions are definately still off the menu.
So you did look!!
a big phew to the garlic :))
Yep, couldnt resist it! Garlic all be it in small amounts is back on the menu.Yaaaay!!:-)
Yaaaayy!
Oh now, your poor friend – absolutely horrible allergy to have – fear not, I am sure that I consume her portion of onions and garlic as well as my own every week.
Love the simplicity and flavoursome result of this tart.
🙂 Mandy
It sounds like that between us we consume her portions 🙂 I adore growing garlic, it is so fresh, and tangy and juicy. My vegetable garden wouldn’t be the same without it.
Not sure I could deal with an allergy like that – I’d sooner give up chocolate!
I love this recipe – I’ve done a similar tart, with blue cheese in place of the feta…
My only onion-note is to never, EVER allow green onions to go to seed, no matter how pretty they are, or how much the finches enjoy them…Three years later, they’re still coming up between the pavers!
I love the idea of blue cheese, so thanks for the tip!
And as to letting onions go to seed, thanks again. The trouble is allium flowers are so pretty, I sometimes let some of the garlic go to seed for the flowers – the bees and butterflies love them too 🙂
I feel so sorry for your friend. Claire, I make a similar recipe except I use pizza dough and top the onion with some oil cured olives and red pepper flakes.
Thank you Karen, that sounds delcious, I love olives and chillies so a great suggestion, and I can see how well the flavours would work together
I cannot imagine being allergic to onions & garlic. In my family? No, that just wouldn’t do. Nope, not at all.
I know what you mean John, I think it’s almost verging on criminal. But then she is my best friend so I can’t pack her off to prison ……. yet. Ha ha Carole 🙂
You think I chose this allergy! But it is good to hear I wont be off to prison just yet:-)
I could always suggest a recipe with lots of diary in it…….Aha revenge is mine!! Cue evil laugh ha ha ha ha haaaaa:-)
This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it out. Also love gardenfreshtomatoes’ additions. How can life be so blissfully simple!
Do you have any other sloe recipes?
Ooo sloe recipes. Other than sloe gin? I also have a bagful of sloes in the freezer which I plan to make some jelly with. A friend has made some sloe jelly so I will get the recipe from her.
Actually jI ust realised it’s you! Ask Hils :))
In fact now I think about it a bit more you ate some of the onion tart 🙂
A caramelized onion tart sounds wonderful. But then caramelized onions are great in so many uses. 🙂
I love caramalised onions too, sweet and tangy 🙂
You really can’t go wrong with cheese and caramelized onions. This looks fantastic.
Thnaks Rufus. It’s relatively quick and easy for a party – I guess if you wanted to smarten it up you could make individual tartlets.
Sounds like a lovely recipe. I think my husband would eat it too, as he loves feta. Thanks for the interesting notes on growing onions. I think I might try some of the above mentioned in my garden! ~ Lynda
Hi Lynda, I hope you like the tart. I’m still undecided with the onions, I guess time will tell !
sounds fab! we just picked some fresh onions so maybe an onion tart is coming our way!
Great! It’s a nice simple and tasty meal to make
You can buy those white onions at Tesco under their Taste the Difference label.
Ah, that’s where I need to go then. But to be honest I avoid supermarkets like the plague. It’s a needs must with me. Have you tried growing them?
I recently made baked French Onion Soup for the first time, caramelizing the onions in a slow cooker for hours. This sounds like another great idea for them!
That sounds like a fabulous way to caramelise the onions. and I can’t think of anything better than French Onion Soup!
I guess the lovely seed head, full and bumpy, borne aloft, is not enough to sway your husband form his opinion of onions.
I do grow a few elephant garlic and I let them go to seed. They are magnificent, maybe 6ft tall with a huge purple seed head. The butterflies and bees love them. So do I !
What a fabulous tart! Love caramelized onions and they sound perfect with a pastry!