Alsatian Onion Pie Recipes

ALSACE ONION TART

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 4 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 equal portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together with pastry scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang over pastry and press against side to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom with a fork and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Line chilled shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and pale golden along rim, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until golden all over, 10 to 15 minutes more. Transfer shell to a rack. (Leave oven on.)
• Prepare filling while shell bakes:
• Cook bacon in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spatula to paper towels to drain and pour off bacon fat. Add butter to skillet and cook onions with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper over moderate heat, stirring, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Cover surface of onions with a round of parchment or wax paper (or cover skillet with a tight-fitting lid) and continue to cook, lifting parchment to stir frequently, until onions are very soft and pale golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in bacon, then remove from heat and cool 10 minutes.
• Whisk together crème fraîche, eggs, nutmeg, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl, then stir in onions.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Pour filling into tart shell, spreading onions evenly, and bake until filling is set and top is golden, 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

TARTE FLAMBEE (ALSATIAN BACON & ONION TART)

Steps:

• Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until cooked but not crisp and fat has rendered out, about 8 minutes. Drain in a strainer; reserve the fat.
• Place skillet back over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Cook briefly just until they lose their raw edge and soften up slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a teaspoon or 2 of bacon fat if pan seems too dry. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Mix fromage blanc, creme fraiche, nutmeg, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a mixing bowl.
• Place 1 ball of pizza dough on a well-floured surface. Flatten and roll out to a 10- or 12-inch thin circle. Transfer to a cold cast iron pan. Heat over medium-high heat to pre-cook the bottom of the crust. As dough heats and bubbles appear, deflate them with the tines of a fork so crust ends up thin and crisp (not chewy). When bottom is nicely browned and just about to start getting charred, 5 to 7 minutes, remove from heat. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Spread a generous amount of cheese mixture over the crust. Top evenly with some onions and then the bacon. Broil 5 or 6 minutes until edges are browned and starting to lift. Repeat for remaining tartes.

ALSACE ONION TART (TARTE à L'OIGNON)

Steps:

• Blend flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Mix the vinegar and 5 tablespoons of ice water together and drizzle evenly over the flour mixture and gently stir with a fork
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, ½ tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface. Gather dough together with pastry scraper and press into a ball, and then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 15-inch round and fit into a 11″ tart pan, lifting and gently pressing into the pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a ½-inch overhang, then fold overhang over pastry and press against side to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom with a fork and chill until firm, about 30 minutes. (If using a tart pan with a revomable bottom place the pan on a baking sheet when putting it into the oven).
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Line chilled shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and pale golden along rim, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until golden all over, 10 to 15 minutes more. Transfer baked shell to a rack to cool. (Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees)
• Place the bacon into a cold skillet, and cook over medium heat until browned. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towels, reserve 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat.
• Add sliced onions to the skillet with the reserved bacon fat and cook onions with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper over moderate heat, stirring, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Cover skillet with a lid and continue to cook, stirring frequently until onions are very soft and pale golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in bacon, then remove from heat and cool completely.
• Whisk together the cream, eggs and yolks, nutmeg, thyme, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl, then stir in onions.
• Pour filling into tart shell, spreading onions evenly, sprinkle ½ cup of grated Gruyere cheese evenly over the top and bake until filling is set and top is golden, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature

ALSATIAN ONION TART

Steps:

• Step 1: make the crust - Mix the flour, salt and butter with your fingers or pulse in a food processor, until you get a crumbly consistency and pea-size bits of butter are still visible. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, and mix until the dough roughly comes together into a ball; do not overmix. Add a few more splashes of water if you feel the dough is too crumbly/dry. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the middle.
• Grease and flour a 9-inch (22.9 cm) tart pan. Transfer the dough onto a floured working surface and roll it out to a 12-inch (31cm) circle. Transfer the crust to the tart pan. Cut any excess crust that hangs over the edges and crimp the edges (optional). Poke the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Line the top of the crust with foil or parchment paper and place pie weights or dried beans over top, to keep the pie crust from puffing when baking.
• Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper filled with weights and set the crust aside. Leave your oven on at 350°F (180°C).
• Step 2 : Caramelize the onions - Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. When the butter is sizzling, add the onions slices and stir to coat with the butter. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, spread the onions evenly onto the pan. Let the onions cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. The trick is to let the onions brown - so do not stir too often. But you don't want to let them burn either.
• After 15 minutes, when the onions should start to dry out, add salt and the beef stock. Stir to coat and continue cooking for about 15 more minutes, until the onions are melty and golden. Set aside.
• Step 3: Make the filling - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and the heavy cream. Add the black pepper and grated cheese. Adjust more seasoning if needed (salt, pepper).
• Step 4: Assemble the tart - Scatter the caramelized onions evenly onto the bottom of the pre-baked crust. Pour the prepared liquid filling over top. Sprinkle evenly with the caraway seeds.
• Bake for 25 minutes, until the crust starts to become golden - the middle will be slightly wobbly and puffy, and will firm up and deflate as it cools down. Transfer onto a cooling rack and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy it warm or at room temperature.

ALSATIAN ONION PIE

Steps:

• Saute onions in oil (I added 1/2 cup water to prevent burning, or you could substitute water for the oil to reduce fat), until translucent and mostly soft.
• Blend the soy milk, tofu, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and flour until smooth.
• Then combine the onions, the soy milk mixture and the couscous.
• Pour into the prepared pie shell.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.