onion tart

[durangojo]

hi all,
does anyone have an idea, recipe or suggestion on what crust to use for an onion tart? puff pastry? pate brisee? should i make this more like a quiche with an egg and cream base or more like a pissaldiere? what is easier and can i freeze one or the other..if i freeze either, will it become soggy when i thaw it..i would think i would want to refresh it by warming it up before serving anyway...thanks in advance
joey

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by durangojo

hi all,
does anyone have an idea, recipe or suggestion on what crust to use for an onion tart? puff pastry? pate brisee? should i make this more like a quiche with an egg and cream base or more like a pissaldiere? what is easier and can i freeze one or the other..if i freeze either, will it become soggy when i thaw it..i would think i would want to refresh it by warming it up before serving anyway...thanks in advance
joey

I would use a pate brisee. Pissaladiere is very different then an "tarte aux oignon" The ladder from Provence, and the Tarte from Alsace/Lorraine.

I would advise against the puff pastry. Pissaladiere is more like a pizza (sorry France) You can freeze them, but to be honest, the texture will be compromised from the freezer.

If you need any recipes for these let me know I teach French cuisine and have them available.

[durangojo]

yes chef,
would love to have a recipe for onion tart..if one is any easier than the other, that would be even greater..its not that i'm lazy..its just that i am finding myself painted into a corner witth prep and time considerations..its always feast or famine it seems! thanks
joey

[cape chef]

Enjoy

Pissaladiere

For the bread dough:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ¾ cups barely warm water
4-4 ½ cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup evoo + 1 tablespoon for the bowl.

For the topping:

¼ cup evoo
4 # Spanish onions, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
2 teaspoons fresh herbs, such as thyme, savory, marjoram or oregano
20 anchovy fillets
S&P TT
½ cup pitted Nicoise olives

To make the dough:

Combine the yeast with ¼ cup of the warm water. Let blossom for 5 minutes. Sift 4 cups of flour with the salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well and stir in the yeast mixture, the remaining 1 ½ cups water, and ¼ cup of evoo. Work the mixture with a wooden spoon or your fingers until it comes together into a shaggy mass. Turn the mixture onto your bench and knead for 3 + minutes. The dough should seem wetter and stickier than most bread dough. If impossible to work with, work in another ¼ to ½ cup of flour.

Put the dough in a clean mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon evoo; turn the dough in the oil to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let ferment at room temperature until doubled in volume.1 to 3 hours.



Rub a 12 by 18 sheet pan with olive oil. Punch down the dough, and then turn it out onto the sheet pan. The dough will be to loose to roll. Press it into the sheet pan with the tips of your fingers until it completely covers the sheet pan. Cover the dough with plastic and let it proof until doubled.

To make the topping:

While to dough is proofing, heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom pan large enough to hold all the onions. Slowly sauté the onions until they release there liquid and soften, about 25 minutes. You are not looking to caramelize the onions. Remove from the heat and stir in the herbs. Chop 8 of the anchovies into a paste, stir the paste into the onions and season TT with S&P.

Preheat the oven to 425 F
Scatter the onion mixture evenly over the dough, leaving about ½ inch of dough exposed around the perimeter. Arrange the anchovies in a formal criss-cross pattern on top of the onions. Sprinkle the olives on top and slide the sheet pan into the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown around the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes.


Pate Brisee

4.5 oz butter
10 oz AP flour
1 egg/1 yolk mixed with a pinch of salt and a .5 oz h20

Cut the butter into the flour (butter should be cold), pour on work surface and make a well, add the wet ingredients and work in the flour, (like pasta or a sponged bread dough) but more rapidly. Fraisage the dough a couple time, disc down and retard for an hour.

Tarte aux oignon

2 # julienne onions slowly cooked in butter, seasoned with s&p until very tender, then increase the heat and gently caramelize.
3 large eggs
S&P to taste
Pinch of nutmeg
8 oz crème fraiche (or heavy cream but not ultra pasteurized)
10 oz whole milk.
1 whole egg for dough

Roll out dough, line a 10 inch tarte pan, dock, and blind bake for about 12 minutes, then remove and brush with egg and bake a couple more minutes.

Add onions, prepare custard, pour in shell, and bake at 375 degree’s until 185 degree’s.

Of course bacon lardons are always welcome

[stir it up]

there's also Alsatian Flammekueche, which can be nice. Puff pastry, a little sourness from a small amount of cheese (sometimes done with creme fraiche & cottage cheese/quark blended smooth, with a tiny bit of flour, S&P and EVOO), then caramelized onions and bacon on top. sometimes called tarte flambee me thinks.

they hold very well cold to this point, you can do them early in the day in individual portions and bake them off as needed during dinner service.

[durangojo]

two questions come to mind..please don't cringe at the thoughts i'm having..one...for the pissaladiere, can i use frozen bread dough, like you find in the freezer section of the grocery store? or premake pizza dough and freeze it? or freeze the pissaladiere dough ? it seems to me that pissaladiere dough is somewhat like foccacia..would that be correct? and for the pate brisee, can i use just a regular pie dough without the egg? what does that egg addition actually do anyway?add a glaze? protect the dough from the filling? can i do this in a half sheet pan instead of a tart pan? i have seen so many different recipes to make these that my head is spinning..some say puff pastry, some say pie dough..thank you both for your input..i am a chef, but working with pastry is not my strong suit, for sure..just wondering about the subs i suggested.. fyi i am trying to fit in some 'on the side' catering while still doing my work at the restaurant during this crazed hoiday season ahead, so am looking for shortcuts..if there are none, that's okay, i will deal..i want the final product to be the least compromised in the end..so if i have to give up a few more hours of sleep, so be it...
joey

[stir it up]

I'll let cape chef advise on the others. On the Alsatian Flammekueche, you could just buy the puff pastry, I recommend to really check the ingredients of it and try to get one as close to all butter as possible. There are some out there with godawful oils and no butter in them and a taste to match, if you want it closer to scratch, try to get all butter or the closest to that. I would get the flat sheets and cut it "rustic" by hand, fluted pastry wheel or however you like, rather than pre-fab rounds.

[EddieVanHalen]

I have had an Onion Tart on and off my menus for years now....IMO the best way is to just make a simple tart dough.....blind bake about half way with some dried beans in foil to hold it shape and to keep from browning too much.....let cool slightly then add your filling, whatever it might be....I always used carmelized onions, leeks, shallots, touch of cream, grated romano cheese, and an egg yolk....then I just baked it until the filling set and served at room temp.....the good thing about this method is you can par-bake the tart doughs and freeze them up to 3 months....then you always have the dough ready to go....

[durangojo]

thanks everyone..i have decided to use a recipe from the great chef andre soltner..its really very similar to yours cape chef...he soley uses heavy cream with no milk added....i have made the pate brisee already and have frozen it...the rest is no problem as i can make it the day before the party and feel that it will be fine...will probably carmelize the onions off a feww days prior as well...thanks again..dont think it was worth losing any sleep over, in the end!
joey

[stir it up]

LOL Soltner is exactly the source I went to when working on this in the early 90s, he also has recipes with puff pastry. He grew up in Alsace, so I'd say you can't go wrong Joey, I'm sure they'll be nice.

[ChefChad]

I have covered onion tarts with a mixture of ground pecans and sugar. When you bake it, the top will caramelize. It's unbelievable! I don't know about freezing them though, never have.

[shroomgirl]

made it Monday, used caramelized onions with a hit of bourbon, thyme, rosemary, garlic.....topped with aged Gouda....no custard.