Onion Tart
How to make onion tart that eats like a moist, savory onion cake and can be enjoyed as an appetizer, a side dish or even as a vegetarian entree. Truly unique, delicious recipe with easy execution! The batter is similar to that of butter swim biscuits and can be prepared with a number of different liquid ingredients such as milk, milk stout or buttermilk.
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Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
FOR ONION TOPPING
- ½ stick butter 4 tbsp
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium onions
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves picked fresh
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
FOR BATTER
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil plus a drizzle
- 1 cup milk stout or substitute*
Instructions
- In the baking dish add the 4 tbsps butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat over medium heat stove until the butter melts. Remove the dish and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 450 F.
- Thinly slice the onions. Sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves over the butter and oil mixture. Layer the thinly sliced onions, gently pushing them out towards the curved parameters of the baking dish. Season with kosher salt and pepper and place in the oven for 15 minutes.**
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, dried thyme and sugar. Make a well in the middle and add the stout (or other liquid), then the olive oil and gently work them in the dry ingredients without over-mixing. The batter should be thickish, like muffins batter. (Thicker than pancake batter but thinner than biscuits batter).
- When the 15 minutes are up, take out the dish with the onions from the oven. Pour the batter over the onions and with the help of two silicone spatulas or similar stretch it towards the sides, forming an even layer, surrounded by a bit of pooling melted butter. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the batter.
- Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Check the batter with a toothpick and decide if you need to leave in for extra 2-3 minutes. (Most likely the onion tart is done).
- Allow the onion tart to cool down a bit, slide a thin spatula along the periphery to make sure batter is not sticking to the sides. When the baking dish is safe to handle, using kitchen gloves, place a suitably sized plate over it. Pressing the plate down with your thumbs flip the baking dish over so that the onion tart is now onto the plate with the caramelized onions side facing up.
- Slice and serve. Garnish with your choice of fresh thyme leaves, feta cheese or goat cheese crumbles, drizzle of balsamic reduction or extra virgin olive oil.
Video
Notes
Use a 10 inch round baking dish that is heavy bottomed, non-stick and easy to handle. Ideally a cast iron 2.25 quart sized braiser. This will help the onions caramelize, the tart bake evenly and will also make the flipping of the tart very easy.
Most varieties of onions work well here. If you use yellow onions the tart will have more aromatic qualities, if you use sweet onions such as Vidalia they will caramelize better and the onion flavor will be milder.
*Milk stout is sweeter than regular stout because the yeast does not break down the lactose. Regular stouts or porters work great too as well as other sweetish dark beers such as Vienna lagers, dunkels brown ales. You can increase the sugar to 2 tsps if using other beer than milk stout.
Instead of beer you can use buttermilk or kefir or plain yogurt thinned out with water to the consistency of buttermilk. Use 1 ¼ cup of these more viscous liquids.
Alternatively, you can use plain soda water in lieu of the beer or beef broth. Use 1 cup of either of theese.
**If you are looking for extra caramelization for the onions you could sprinkle about 1 teaspoon sugar over the thyme before you add the onions or toss the onions in the sugar. I find that this is not necessary, but it is something you can do if you truly are looking for extra caramelization.
