Caramelized Onion Tarts

Recipe With Phyllo

YIELD: Makes about 20 3-in. squares
TOTAL:45 MINUTES

Ingredients

7 sheets filo dough, thawed
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
7 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup very thinly sliced onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
8 Roma tomatoes, cut into 1/8-in.-thick slices
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray paper with cooking-oil spray (or brush lightly with vegetable oil). Lay 1 sheet filo on paper and brush lightly with a little melted butter. Sprinkle all over with 1 tbsp. parmesan. Repeat layering 5 more times (with filo, butter, and parmesan), pressing each sheet firmly so it sticks to sheet below. Lay the last filo sheet on top, brush with remaining melted butter, and sprinkle on remaining 1 tbsp. parmesan.

2. Scatter onion across filo, top with mozzarella, and arrange tomato slices in a single layer, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Bake until filo is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then serve.


Recipe 2

Slowly cooking sweet onions until golden creates a sophisticated filling between the flaky puff pastry crust and the smooth Gruyère and Parmesan cheese topping.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
All-purpose flour
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese OR Swiss cheese (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Directions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 15 minutes or until well browned, stirring often. Remove the skillet from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle the work surface with the flour. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Place the pastry onto the baking sheet. Brush the edges of the pastry with water. Fold over the edges 1/2 inch on all sides, crimping with a fork to form a rim. Prick the center of the pastry thoroughly with a fork.

Spread the onion mixture on the pastry to the rim. Sprinkle with the cheeses and chives.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut into 24 (3x2-inch) rectangles. Serve warm.

Recipe Note: Parchment paper keeps the pastry from sticking to the baking sheet and also makes for easier cleanup. If you don't have parchment paper, you can spray the baking sheet with cooking spray instead. However, cooking spray may cause the bottoms of the pastries to brown more quickly, so begin checking for doneness 5 minutes early.



onion and blue cheese tart

http://lunchfortwo.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/onion_and_blue_.html

1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Pastry [they come two to a box], thawed about 30 mins

filling
2 Tbs olive or canola oil
4 yellow onions, sliced
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
6 1/2 oz crumbly blue cheese (roquefort is very good in this recipe)
3 oz small, oil-cured, pitted black olives
2 Tbs fresh thyme, leaves pulled off stalks
fresh ground black pepper

pre-heat oven to 400. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is a rough rectangle shape and about 1/8 of an inch thick. [when you take it out of the box it is 1/4 inch thick to give you an idea] Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and put the pastry on it.

cook the oil, onions, and lemon rind in a frying pan over a medium heat. you want the onions soft and golden brown. turn of the heat and let them cool slightly.

Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pastry, leaving a 1 inch or less border. Top with the cooked onions, olives, thyme leaves and pepper. fold over the corners to make a neat looking border. Bake 23-30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden. Serve warm....


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Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart

This is another one from Nigel Slater's Appetite. This was the first time I had worked with store-bought puff pastry (or any kind of puff pastry for that matter). It's a great way to make something elegant with relatively little effort.

Though the technique is easy, this particular recipe is not quick, because you need to caramelize the onions. I think it took at least an hour, possibly longer - I didn't really keep track, because I was puttering around the kitchen with a friend, making other stuff, and just giving the onions the odd stir now and then. If you were pressed for time, I think the tart would be equally delicious with sauteed mushrooms, or cooked spinach, or thinly sliced artichoke hearts, or perhaps some sauteed eggplant and tomato, or...the possibilities are endless. Expect to see other tarts appear in this blog. (Though probably not right away - with the richness of the puff pastry and the cheese, this is definitely a "sometimes food".)

I served this cut up into itty bitty squares as a party snack, but it would work as a main dish paired with a nice green salad.

The Ingredients

1 sheet (1/2 lb. of pastry) from a package of pre-rolled frozen puff pastry (I used Pepperidge Farm, which is just about the only brand of frozen puff-pastry I ever see around here.) Ambitious types may, of course, roll their own.
6 medium onions, halved and sliced (The thinner the slices, the faster your onions will caramelize. However, thicker slices will give a more substantial texture and will be less likely to burn. We went for 1/4 inch thick slices. This also looks like an impossibly large pile of onions, but it cooks down to next to nothing.)
3 tbsp. butter
4-5 oz. good melting cheese (I used a domestic fontina, which was good, but I think next time I would have picked something slightly sharper, like a real Italian fontina or maybe a Gruyere, and used a bit less of it. Slater actually suggests Taleggio, which is not carried by my local supermarket, or Camembert.)
Leaves from a few sprigs fresh thyme
The Steps

In your largest skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Pile in the onions, and cook, stirring now and then, until the onions are deep golden-brown and caramelized, at least 45 minutes, possibly longer.
If you're like me, you're probably going to spend the first twenty minutes of this process looking at the onions and thinking, "Uh oh, they're not getting brown. It's not going to work." Patience. It will work.

Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. Lightly flour a baking sheet and unroll the puff pastry onto it.
Score the pastry lightly with a knife to create a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Prick the area inside the border all over with a fork.
Cut the cheese into small slices or break it up into small chunks.
Spread the caramelized onions over the puff pastry inside the scored border. Tuck bits of cheese into the onion mixture.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden and the cheese is melted.
Cut into squares and serve.