Braised Onion Tart

Do not be fooled by my crappy photo.  There’s a lovely picture of Braised Onion Tart in February’s Bon Appetit.  If you want the glamour shot, look there.

Note to self: Check the ingredient label the next time you think of buying store brand puff pastry.  It wasn’t until I took my box of Giant brand puff pastry out of the freezer that I noticed it was made with margarine.  Who the hell uses margarine in puff pastry?  I have to be honest and say that I wasn’t happy with the flavor or the texture of the pastry.  It also didn’t brown well.

But I am confident that those shortcomings were the result of my poor, generic puff pastry choice and not of the onion tart itself.  The 59 cents, or whatever it was, that I “saved” by choosing the store brand was no savings whatsoever.

So what’s the take away here?

1. Fancy cameras do not ensure you won’t have a crappy photo.
2. Bargain puff pastry is no bargain.
3. Splurge on the good stuff and then make a braised onion tart.

Braised Onion Tart

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2011

BAH Note: There’s a whole component in the BA recipe for roasting onions to use for the tart.  While that’s great, it also adds nearly 90 minutes to the process.  I elected to use some of the Braised Onions that I had stashed away in my freezer.  I thawed them in the fridge, then while my puff pastry was thawing on the counter I heated the thawed onions in a skillet until most of the liquid had evaporated.

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 cup Braised Onions
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced thin
• 3/4 cup crème fraîche
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry on a sheet of parchment to a rectangle approximately 14×10. Fold a 1/2 inch edge in towards the center on all sides to form a 13×9-inch rectangle. Transfer the pastry (on the parchment) to large rimmed baking sheet. Press firmly on the  pastry edges with fork to form a rim.

In a small bowl, mix the crème fraîche, salt, and pepper. Using the back of a spoon, or an offset spatula, spread the crème fraîche mixture over the crust to the folded edges. Arrange the apple slices on top of the crème fraîche and then top with the onions.

Bake until the crust is light golden brown and the crème fraîche topping is bubbling, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme and serve.

{printable recipe}