Goats Cheese and Red Onion Tart

[Prawncrackers]

Goats Cheese and Red Onion Tart

Serves 4 as Appetizeror 2 as Main Dish.

As i've had a couple of requests for this recipe over in the eG Cooking forum so i thought it best to add this as my first contribution to the RecipeGullet.

I'm not very good at writing recipes as i very rarely follow them myself. It does mean that i tend to ramble but i think it's important to get the essence of a dish rather than learning recipes by rote. This is another one of those recipes that has just evolved over the years and these are my favourite toppings for it. You can of course choose your own from the best available. For a veggie recipe just leave out the bacon or ham.

Let me know if it works for you, thanks!

1. Caramelise a whole red onion, finely sliced. Season with s&p. Optional - add a clove of minced garlic and cook out. When the onions are nice and brown and sweet and sticky, leave to cool (very important) before spreading it onto your prepared pastry....

2. Prepare the tart base using puff pastry, roll out a square to your desired size to about 3-4mm thickness on some baking parchment. I use shop-bought but i do try to buy the best quality i can - the cheap stuff is horrible as it's full of additives and hydrogenated fats. Perversely, the best stuff has the fewest ingredients, just flour, salt and butter! I roll out a 25x25cm square and it's good for 4 starter size portions. Or you can roll and cut out 4 individual tartlets (my wife does this as she likes the extra ratio of puff pastry to filling)).

3. Gently score a border 1.5-2cm deep all around your squared pastry. Alternatively, for a thicker, puffier border you can make the border using a separate strip of pastry - this is what i do but it is tricky if you're not used to handling puff pastry. Leave the pastry in the fridge after handling if it gets too soft.

4. Spread your cooled onions neatly within the border of your pastry and lay some prosciutto (or cooked bacon) and then some goats cheese (the soft round mold ripened stuff is better than the young crumbly for baking - but of course you can choose your own topping but be careful not to overload it!). Sprinkle some fresh thyme and season. Egg wash the border and give the topping a lick of extra-virgin olive oil, ready to bake.

5. Preheat a baking tray or a baking stone in your oven to high temp (~200C) - this will help cook the base through. Transfer your tart, baking parchment and all onto your baking medium and cook for about 20 minutes.

6. Slice and eat with a freshly prepared salad of your choice

Keywords: Easy, Tart, Appetizer, Cheese, British

( RG2015 )