My Motto

May the muffin rise to greet you, may your friends be always at your door, and until we meet again, warm a single-malt in the palm of your hand and make something homemade for someone you love.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Spring Onion Tart with Puff Pastry Crust

"We would load up the yellow Cutlass Supreme station wagon and pick blackberries during blackberry season, or spring onions during spring onion season.  For us, food was part of the fabric of our day."
~Mario Batali
















Sharing recipes that cause excitement around here is the reason I started this blog. You might be thinking, "spring onion tart - ho hum." Not so fast.  This is something I've thought about and been meaning to try for years.  When I served it to The Mister last night, after taking a bite, he exclaimed (with his mouth half-full, btw) "I am the luckiest man alive!"  (He is so much fun to cook for.) High praise for the humble onion tart.  It's just one of those things.  Sometimes simple is best.  


The smell of the onions slowly cooking with fresh thyme....oh boy...it really primes the appetite.  Even if you're not a fan of raw onion, you might like this.  The slow cooking takes the bite out and leaves you a creamy, savory filling.   It's good warm or at room temperature, and although we had it as part of a light dinner served with soup and salad, you could shape it as a rectangle on a cookie sheet, cut the tart into small squares and it would make a nice appetizer that would be elegant dressed up with a pinch of microgreens on each square.  I'm considering this for Easter.


I've seen enough onion tarts over the years to know the basic fillings and variations.  For mine, I started with 1/4 of  my favorite Fanny Farmer base quiche binder, and then added the spring onion filling. The puff pastry was a no-brainer for it's ease of preparation and the crispy, buttery results.  
Cooks notes: Pre-baking of the crust is important, so that it's crispy.  That really makes it. If you skip that step the bottom will be soggy and it may become misshapen as it bakes.  Take care to cook the onions very slowly on low.  You're goal is not to brown them, but to soften and very slightly caramelize them.  Adding the garlic at the very end is important because you just want to warm it up and bring out the fragrance.  If it browns it will be bitter.  Fresh thyme is best, but if you have to use dried, use very little, just a pinch, because the dried is much stronger and you don't want it to overpower.

Spring Onion Tart with Puff Pastry Crust
Serves 4


1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (I prefer Pepperidge Farm)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced (Vidalia are best, but white is fine)
2 bunches spring onions (scallions) about 12-14
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (good stuff, not pre-shredded, bagged)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter tart pan.  Roll thawed sheet of  puff pastry to stretch it a bit to fit your tart pan, if necessary.  Pinch pastry up the sides of pan.  Cut away any pasty that overhangs.  Poke bottom of crust with a fork.  Cut a piece of foil or parchment paper that is bigger than your pan.   Lay this over the puff pastry crust, allowing plenty of overhang.   Fill with baking weights, dried beans or rice to weigh it down.  Bake for 25-30 mins.  Remove weights and cool.




Cut root end of scallions off, then slice from the white end, about 2/3 a way up the green part.  Discard the last 1/3 of the green part.  Set aside half of the greenest part of the sliced scallions.  The rest, place with your sliced onions.


In a large preferably nonstick saucepan, melt butter together with the olive oil on low-medium heat.  Add the sliced onions and scallions (except for the green ones you set aside).  Add salt, pepper and thyme.  Allow them to come to a very low simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for about 15-20 minutes until they are very soft, and even slightly caramelized, but not browned.  Add garlic and cook for about 3 minutes more, stirring.  Set aside until mostly cooled off.  


In a medium bowl, whisk egg, stir in cream and shredded Swiss cheese.  Stir in the cooled cooked onion mixture and pour into the cooled crust, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle the reserved green part of the scallions evenly over the filling and press them down lightly.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the filling.


Bake for 20-25 minutes or until filling is set and golden.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

15 comments:

Katarina said...

This look so delicious and I bet it's tasty!

TinaRBK said...

Onions have always been a "part" of a dish in my house. I have never really made something where it was the primary stand out ingredient. It is time to change that and your recipe looks like just the ticket. Fresh ingredients I am sure makes all the difference too. Not surprising this was a hit at your house!

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

@Hovkonditorn: Thanks, it was..the hubs and I could have polished off the whole thing ourselves, EASY!

@Tina: Same here, if you exclude onion dip ;-). This one will enter the rotation now, though. Hope you get a chance to try it!

to both: Have a great weekend!

Di said...

I love to make tarts with leeks, but haven't really tried with other oniony things. I like your idea of using puff pastry for the crust.

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

Thanks Di! Have a restful Sunday. xo

Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen said...

Margaret, does your Mister give lessons in food appreciation. I get "'S OK." when I make enquiries so a spontanteous appreciation like that would make my day. I'm going to try your Spring Onion Tart out on him and see what happens!

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

@Hester: The expressions of appreciation definitely make my day as well! It's very encouraging for sure. I hope you enjoy the tart and that it works it's magic! ;-) Have a great week.

Daphne Elliot said...

This looks awesome. I adore spring onions and this looks delicate and tasty. Great post.

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

@Dara: Thanks a bunch!

Kristen said...

Puff pastry makes everything wonderful. Add that to such a great sounding filling and you have yourself a meal that makes me want to sit up and take notice.

Mary Bergfeld said...

This sounds wonderful. The combination is one of my favorites for a quiche. Have a great evening. Blessings...Mary

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

@Kris: You're so right - puff pastry is magical stuff!

@Mary: Thank you! Have a great weekend!

Biren @ Roti n Rice said...

This spring onion tart sounds so tasty! I can imagine the aroma in your kitchen when you were slow cooking those onions and scallions. Happy Easter Margaret!

Carol Boorse said...

Fancy finding you in the internet abyss lol i was searching for a recipe for spring onion scones or something. I had no idea you had a blog! Im gonna search through and read everything ❤

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

LOL, that’s funny! Hope you enjoy it! 😘