Swiss Style Onion Tart

 

I was recently on a baking kick and was determined to find an onion tart recipe similar to the one my grandfather used to make. Though I ave not found a perfect match just yet, and I likely never will, this tart was delicious and very quickly devoured. The dough is a little finicky to work with, but that could also be my lack of experience with making pie and tart crusts. This tart filling is delicious and you could cheat and use store bought dough or a pie shell. I made this without bacon and I still love it. Feel free to use Gruyere cheese if you have it readily available, otherwise a Swiss cheese (like Emmental) will work as well.

Recipe from Saveur

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled, unsalted butter, cut in to cubes
1/4 cup cold water

For the filling:
3 ounces speck or bacon, finely chopped (can omit if needed)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds white onions (about 3 medium or 2 large), finely chopped
kosher salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
3 ounces grated Gruyere cheese (or regular Swiss cheese like Emmental)
Freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg to season

Begin by making the crust. In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder and salt to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Pour in 1/4 cups of very cold water and pulse to combine (this should be quick). Flour a work surface and dump the dough on to this., Form in to a disk shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in your fridge for 1 hour.

Once chilled, preheat your oven to 425F/220C. Remove the dough from the fridge and let is rest for a few minutes before rolling it out. Flour a work surface. Roll the dough as best as you can in to a 13" circle (mine was far from a perfect circle so don't worry too much about that). Transfer to an 11" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. If you do not have this type of pan, you can use a regular tart or pie form, but the tart will be more difficult to remove from the dish. Once you have the dough in your tart pan, press the corners down gently to ensure the dough reaches all sides, then trim off any excess dough. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough. Cover the dough with a sheet of parchment paper and cover the paper with dried beans. Bake the tart until the crust is set, about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and beans and cook another 5 to 15 minutes, until the dough is just light brown. Let the crust cool.

In the meantime, prepare the tart filling. If using the bacon, cook the bacon in a large pan until crispy (about 7 minutes). Remove from the pan. Discard the bacon fat and add the butter to the pan. Transfer the chopped onions to the pan and season with salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften. Uncover the onions and continue to cook until they are lightly browned, another 10 to 15 minutes. Let the onions cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the milk, cream and eggs. Stir in the bacon, onions and cheese.Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Once combined, pour in to your prepared tart crust. Place the tart on a baking sheet and reduce your oven's heat to 400F/205C. Bake until the filling is golden brown and has set. This will take about 45-50 minutes. If your crust is cooking too rapidly, you can cover the crust with some aluminum foil to protect it from the heat. Once the tart is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to set for at least 10-15 minutes before enjoying (or ideally allow it cool). Pin It Now!