Red Onion and Olive Tart

by di Mar 16, 2017 0 comments

Some of the best dishes come from the simplest of ingredients.

This dish is no exception, the work involved in making it is minimal and the gain is huge when you taste the result.

The key to the dish is FRESH ingredients. Fresh produce makes everything taste better. It doesn't have to be homegrown or fresh from the farmers market but using fresh ingredients rather than 3 week old, dusty, produce will make a difference to the taste. There's not many ingredients involved in this dish but using ripe and firm red onions, fresh crisp garlic and fresh herbs makes for a fresh and mouth-watering result.

I love this Red Onion and Olive Tart recipe and have wanted to post it for a while but the time was never right. That was until the other day while I was walking through some beautiful Provencal countryside and came across a hillside full of wild Thyme. It was too beautiful and too pungent not to use, so it was "Thyme" to make and post one of my favourite dishes.

I am a huge fan of the anti-social onion and will happily use it in almost any savoury dish. Cooked the right way onion doesn't have to offend anyone at all, they key is low and slow, just like most things where you want to maximize flavour. The secret to cooking onion dishes is to cook slowly allowing the natural sugars in them to sweeten and caramelize. For this dish you should allow around 30 minutes for this process. All too often this step is rushed resulting in an over-powering, harsh and acidic taste.

Fresh Wild Thyme in Provence

This dish has enough flexibility to please everyone.

Red Onion and Olive Tart can be eaten just as the recipe states or it can have additions such as:

Goat Cheese Lardons (bacon) Sun-dried tomatoes

Try it with my recipe for Whipped Feta, Lemon and Chilli Dip - a great side accompaniment to spoon on especially if you have friends over and are looking for something different.

Try spreading black olive Tapenade on the base of the puff pastry before adding the onion mixture for a truly Provencal taste.

Fish lovers can lay Anchovies on top before baking for a different twist.

You can make mini versions or individual tartlets for lunch/dinner parties.

Can be served warm or cold.

Or, if you like SIMPLE, just accompany this beautiful tart with fresh crisp salad greens dressed in a simple Olive Oil and Balsamic dressing - divine!

A hillside full of Wild Thyme ripe for picking

This very versatile tart can allow many additions - or loads of olives in my case!

Red Onion and Olive Tart

Ingredients:

For 4 People

3 - 4 large Red Onions - Peeled and shredded finely 1 Clove Garlic - Peeled and crushed 25g Butter 1 TBSP + 1 TSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 Sheet ready rolled Puff Pastry - refrigerated 1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar 50g Black Olives - Good quality, pitted and cut in half Fresh Thyme - washed, leaves stripped from stem, stems disguarded Salt and Pepper - to season Pinch Cayenne Pepper or chilli powder

The Mix:

Take a small handful of Onions, put into a bowl, add 1 TSP Olive Oil then put to one side - these will be used just before cooking Place the rest of the Onions, Garlic, Butter and rest of Olive Oil in a large pan and cook on medium heat until they are sweet, pale red and soft enough to crush between thumb and finger - this should take approx. 20 mins with frequent stirring Add Vinegar, Cayenne and Thyme and cook for a further 2 minutes on low heat Season with salt and pepper to your taste Turn off heat and allow to cool while you prepare the Puff pastry

Take Puff Pastry out of fridge, unroll and lay flat on top of parchment paper on a baking tray With a knife, score a line around the outside of the puff pastry approx. 2 cm in from the edges - make sure not to cut all the way through the pastry Spread onion mixture over the pastry and even out with a palette knife or spatula Place olives and rest of onions on top of the cooked onion mixture Sprinkle with a small amount of Thyme if you have some left over

Bake in oven (180ºc or 160ºc fan assist) for 20 - 30 minutes until pastry has risen and is a deep gold colour

Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving

Drink This:

Well - I am using Provencale Thyme and Red Onion Tart pairs really well with Provence Rosé