Red Onion Goat Cheese Tart

So funny enough, it entirely escaped my notice that I do not own a flan tin. That little fact didn’t dawn on me till the onions were already cooking. Last minute change of plans, I used a small pie tin, and a tartlet tray (like a very shallow muffin tin). Small food is always fun anyway.




For the pastry:
225g/8oz fine, wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp salt
6tbsp olive oil

For the filling
1kg/2lb4oz red onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp sherry, or red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
350g/12oz firm goat’s cheese log

preheat to 180c/350f
cook the onions in the oil, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. They need to be really soft before you move on.
Add the sugar, sherry and vinegar, and let simmer, without a lid 30 minutes. Should be sticky with hardly any liquid. Leave to cool.
Pastry:
Put the flour and salt in a bowl, carefully add the oil and 3 tbsp water, mix to a soft dough, then press evenly into the base and up the sides of a 30cm/12inch flan tin, spreading thinly. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from onion and top with onions and cheese, and bake for 20-30 minutes, till the cheese has melted and browned.

This is from The BBC Book “Fast Fresh and Fabulous”.

The dough was a pain, it did not come together easily, and it was not especially soft at any point. I had to roll it out instead of just spreading it into the tin with my hands. I baked the pie for 25 minutes, and the tartlets for only 20 without pre-baking the crust.

It was all totally worth it. The crust came out really crispy and nice, and the onions were so good that I just ate the leftover ones on their own. I think I could have used a stronger cheese, it was kind of overpowered by the onions, but all in all good.

I think my three year old said it best… “mmmm It’s got cheese on it. I love it.”