Roasted Onion Tarts Recipes

ROASTED ONION TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425° F. and lightly grease 2 large baking sheets.
• Slice enough of red and yellow onions to measure 5 cups each and in a large skillet cook in 3 tablespoons oil with salt and pepper to taste, covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream and cool.
• Trim remaining onions and cut lengthwise into sixths, keeping wedges intact, and arrange, narrow sides up, 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets. Sprinkle onion wedges with salt and pepper to taste and roast in middle and lower thirds of oven 20 minutes, or until tender. Cool onion wedges.
• On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin roll out 1 pastry sheet into a 13-inch square. Using an inverted 6-inch plate as a guide, cut out four 6-inch rounds, discarding scraps. Cut out 12 more rounds from remaining 3 pastry sheets in same manner to make a total of 16 rounds.
• Fold in edge of each pastry round to form a 1/4-inch-wide border. (If pastry becomes too soft to work with, chill until firm.) Transfer rounds to 2 large baking sheets and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Top each round evenly with a scant 1/4 cup sliced onion mixture. Arrange roasted onions on their sides decoratively (alternating yellow and red) on top of tarts and season with salt and pepper. Bake tarts in middle and lower thirds of oven, switching positions of pans halfway through baking, 20 to 25 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown and roasted onions are very tender. Transfer tarts to racks to cool. Tarts may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered loosely with plastic wrap. Bring tarts to room temperature before serving or heat in a preheated 350° F. oven until heated through.
• Brush tarts with additional oil and serve whole or halved.

ROASTED BELL PEPPER AND ONION TART

Steps:

• Char peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Wrap in paper bag and seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and seed peppers. Cut into 1/3-inch-wide strips.
• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until just beginning to color, about 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cool. (Bell peppers and onion can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove crust from box. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes to soften. Unfold crust; peel off top plastic sheet. Press out fold lines. If crust cracks, wet fingers and push edges together to seal. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon flour over surface of crust. Place crust, floured side down, in 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; peel off second plastic sheet. Fold crust edge in, forming double-thick sides. Pierce dough all over with fork. Bake until light golden, about 10 minutes. Cool crust. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F.
• Arrange onion in crust. Top with bell pepper strips. Sprinkle with basil. Whisk cream, eggs, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend. Pour custard over vegetables. Bake tart until custard sets, about 20 minutes. Cool tart 5 minutes in pan on rack. Remove pan sides. Cut tart into wedges and serve warm.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CARAMELIZED ONION TART

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a 12-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Fit dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Freeze shell 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell in middle of oven until edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights or rice and bake shell 10 minutes more, or until bottom is golden. Leave oven on. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Halve squash and scoop out seeds. Lightly brush each cut side with about 1 teaspoon oil and on a baking sheet roast squash, cut sides down, in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until soft.
• While squash is roasting, thinly slice onion and in a heavy skillet cook in 1/2 tablespoon butter and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Cool squash and scoop out flesh. In a food processor purée squash. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and cream and blend well. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in cheeses, herbs, onion, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour filling into shell, smoothing top.
• In a small skillet melt remaining tablespoon butter and stir in bread crumbs until combined well. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly over filling. Bake tart in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool tart in pan on rack 10 minutes and carefully remove rim.

ONION TART

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.

CABBAGE AND CARAMELIZED ONION TART

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, and cook, stirring, until they begin to sizzle and soften, about three minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Stir everything together, turn the heat to low, cover and cook slowly for 45 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are very soft, sweet and light brown.Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat in another large skillet. Add the cabbage. Cook, stirring often, until it begins to wilt, then add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage is tender and fragrant. Stir in the onions, simmer together uncovered for about five minutes or until there is no longer any liquid in the pan, and remove from the heat.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9- or 10-inch tart pan and line with the dough. Beat the eggs and milk in a bowl and season with salt (about 1/2 teaspoon) and pepper. Stir in the onions, cabbage and cheese, and combine well. Scrape into the tart pan, and place in the oven. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until the top is lightly browned.