French Onion Tart

Mar 14

Mar 14 French Onion Tart

Happy Pi Day (03.14)! I’m celebrating with this French Onion Tart. If you cook onions low and slooooow, they lose their sharpness and turn melty soft and sweet. The caramelized onions are combined with cream, eggs, a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then baked in a savory crust. The result is pure buttery, flaky, oniony magic. I followed a recipe on New York Times Cooking by André Soltner of Lutèce fame. Simplicity at it’s finest. Serve it along side a light arugula salad and you'll have a lovely meal for 4-6.

The tart does require a little patience, it takes 25-30 minutes for a pound of onions to cook down, but if the heat low is enough you don't need to pay too close attention. Just make sure the onions are fully coated in whatever fat you cook them in, then give a stir every few minutes to make sure they cook evenly.

French Onion Tart Recipe:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021594-onion-tart

Yield:
1, 9 or 10-inch tart

Difficulty:
Easy

Special Equipment:
9 or 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom

How I made it:

As I mentioned, I stuck close to the recipe with only a single adjustment. The recipe calls for cooking the onions in bacon fat or lard but since I don't keep that in the house I used ghee, its nutty flavor complimented sweetness of the onions perfectly. You could also use butter and I'm sure the tart would still be delicious, it just may not have the same depth of flavor that ghee or bacon fat provide. And obviously I made the tart in a square pan, but a round tart pan is what's called for so if that's what you have, that's perfect! I think 9 or 10-inch would work just fine. If you give it a try, do let me know what you think.