Recipes › Onion (Bulb) › Caramelised Onion and Goat's Cheese Tart
Caramelised Onion and Goat's Cheese Tart
A proper shortcrust tart filled with slowly caramelised onions that have turned sweet and jammy, topped with creamy goat's cheese and fresh thyme. This is the kind of thing that looks impressive but relies entirely on patience with the onions — get that right and the rest takes care of itself. Wonderful warm or at room temperature with a green salad.
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Ingredients
- 1000 g Onion (Bulb), halved and thinly sliced
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegaror use red wine vinegar
- 150 soft goat's cheese, crumbledor use feta for a sharper flavour
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 fresh thyme, leaves stripped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, milk, sulphites.
Method
- Make the pastry: rub the cold cubed butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time and bring together into a dough. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.About 10 min
- While the pastry chills, melt the 40g butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add all the sliced onions and a good pinch of salt. Stir well to coat, then cook, stirring every 5 minutes, for 40 minutes until deep golden brown and very soft. They will reduce dramatically in volume. Add the caster sugar and balsamic vinegar for the final 5 minutes, stir well and set aside.About 45 min
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thickness and use it to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Trim any overhang, prick the base all over with a fork, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes until the base is pale golden.About 25 min
- Reduce the oven to 170°C fan. Whisk together the double cream and beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Spread the caramelised onions evenly across the tart base. Scatter over the crumbled goat's cheese and thyme leaves. Pour the cream and egg mixture slowly over the filling.About 5 min
- Bake the tart for 25 to 30 minutes until the custard is just set with a very slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.About 30 min
Tips
- Do not rush the caramelisation — 40 minutes over a gentle heat genuinely is the minimum. If you crank the heat to speed things up, you will get bitter, unevenly cooked onions rather than the soft, sweet, deep-mahogany result you are after.
- The tart base can be blind baked the day before and stored at room temperature, covered loosely with a clean cloth.
- If the pastry edge starts to over-brown before the custard sets, lay a strip of foil gently over the rim.
Ring the changes
- Swap the goat's cheese for 100g of grated Gruyère stirred into the custard for a more classic, deeply savoury version.
- For a gluten-free version, use a pre-made gluten-free shortcrust pastry block and ensure all other ingredients are certified gluten-free.
Keeping it
Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in the oven at 160°C fan for 10 minutes rather than microwaving, which makes the pastry soggy.
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