Carmelized Onion Tart

It occurred to me today that I have not been taking photos of our family meals. It's a shame, because seeing photos of food is very helpful. It's tough to remember something like snapping a shot of dinner as I'm scrambling to get everything together, while my tot is running around my legs, or asking me to pick him up, or saying, "try, try, try...", or getting himself into trouble. Lucky for me, something like a tart can still be picture ready after it's been dug into, even if it's not the whole tart. So, here you go:

Timing dinner can also be a bit of tricky thing. I didn't know if I would actually pull off this onion tart tonight. Everything was being made from scratch, starting at about 4pm, to be served at 6pm. Two hours should be enough time. But, I hadn't read the recipe ahead of time. What if I needed to let the dough rest, or chill? Dinner was actually done just after 6pm! Yippie!

Okay, here's the recipe:

Pate Brisee (tart dough), adapted from http://bakingbites.com/2007/10/pate-brisee-tart-dough/

1-1/3 cup (5.5 oz) all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup (4 oz) cold butter, cut into chunks

approx. 1/4 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine flour, salt and sugar. Add in chunks of butter and pulse carefully until the mixture resembles very coarse sand.Pour in ice water in a slow stream and continue to pulse (slightly longer pulses here) until the dough comes together into a large, rough ball. It should not be too wet or sticky, but if it is too crumbly to hold together, add an additional tbsp or two of ice water.Divide dough into two discs and wrap each tightly in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, or store (even more tightly wrapped) in the freezer for 1-2 months. Refrigerated dough should be fine to work with for about a week.Makes 2 single crust (9 to 11-in.) tart shells (or 1 double-crust pie)
Basic Single Tart Crust
Preheat oven to 350F.Roll out half of the dough (one disc, from recipe above) into a circle large enough to fit a 9-10-inch tart pan.Press dough into pan without stretching it and pinch any excess off along the top edge. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork several times, line with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights.Bake for 25 minutes, remove foil and pie weights.

Tart filling:

1 tbl olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 tsp all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic, and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes. Add the butter & swirl it around the pan until it melts, then add the onions. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, golden brown, & caramelized, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Set aside to cool at least 2o minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt & pepper. Spread the cooled onions on the bottom of the tart crust. Pour the egg mixture into the crust, filling it to the top. Sprinkle the goat cheese all over the top of the tart. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the custard is set and the top is golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes. Slice and serve immediately.

*This recipe can be made for up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated. Reheat in the oven before serving.

*May use Gruyere cheese instead of goat cheese. May also add oil-cured black olives, pitted & chopped, and 1 tsp each of chopped parsley & chopped basil (to be added into egg mixture).

*I baked for 25 minutes. It was done, but it probably wouldn't have hurt to go an extra 5 minutes.