Caramelized Onion and Cheese Tart

 Caramelized Onion and Cheese Tart

  

This is so good.  I always serve it as an appetizer during the holidays.  Why?  Because if you blink twice and the tray is empty. It is a big show stopper!  Puff pastry topped with a rich and creamy sauce, crisp bacon, tender cooked onions, and two kinds of cheese on top.  I always make more than one tart and leave them to warm in the oven to keep the plate full at all times.  Simply delicious!

Caramelized Onion and Cheese Tart

Caramelizing the Onions

 1 large sweet onion, Vidalia or sweet yellow onions, sliced thin

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

a few sprigs fresh thyme leaves

1-2 tablespoons beef broth

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 slices bacon, fried and crumbled for topping (optional)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a large skillet on low-medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. Add the sliced onions. Cook the onions until they turn a golden brown, stirring often. This will take about 40-45 minutes.  Add a little of the beef broth to keep them moist and scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the onions are caramelized to a dark golden color, add the onion salt and garlic powder and brown sugar. Stir and cook for about 2 more minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. If using bacon, add the cooked chopped bacon to your onions now.

Next, prepare your puff pastry dough.

 

Puffed Pastry Dough

I box (2 sheets) Puffed Pastry

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup of shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unroll a sheet of puffed pastry dough onto a sheet of parchment paper. Gently roll out the puff pastry so that it is a little longer and wider, about 2 inches longer and an inch wider. (Puff pastry is already rolled, but you want it just a little bit thinner.) Brush the entire top with olive oil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 1 inch inside the pastry dough, score the edges all the way around (basically making a square inside the dough). I used a knife to do this, but be careful not to cut all the way through the dough. Scoring the dough will allow an edge 'crust' to puff up. You can also simply roll an edge along the sides of the dough and score along the inside edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese all over the inside of the edges. With a fork, pierce the pastry inside your frame several times.  Do not pierce the edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake the puff pastry in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until it puffs up, and the pastry and cheese are golden brown.  It might get quite puffy in the middle, no worries. You can flatten that down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the pastry from the oven, deflate the center a little bit by piercing it with a fork. 

 

Filling

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon onion salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

black pepper, to taste

3/4 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

In a small bowl mix the mayo and egg yolk until well combined.  Add the onion salt, black pepper and and garlic powder and stir. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mix until smooth and creamy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gently spread the mixture in the middle of the partially baked pastry staying inside your edges. If the center is too puffy, flatten it a little with your hand before spreading the filling on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, scoop the onion mixture inside the square in the middle of the puff pastry sheet, spreading it out evenly on top of the filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sprinkle on the shredded Swiss or Gruyere making sure to cover your caramelized onions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the pastry with the heavy cream. Bake for 23-24 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the pastry puffs up and is golden brown.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from oven, to a cutting board and cut into squares. Arrange on a serving platter. Top each slice with cooked bacon if desired.  Serve immediately and enjoy!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hints

• Puff Pastry: Take the time to thaw your puff pastry in the fridge, overnight. Open it into a flat piece of dough first. Since you are opening two sheets, go ahead and make two tarts. Keep the puff pastry refrigerated until ready to use. The chilled pastry creates a flaky result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

• Make sure to prick the pastry to prevent from bubbling. 
• You may not use all your onions, depending on the size of your   onion.  Save for later or make a second tart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          I use Vidalia onions when they are available. Otherwise, I use Sweet Yellow Onions. Slice these up into thin, even pieces so that that they cook together at the same time. 

     Olive Oil: I used regular olive oil and butter to cook the onions in. 

 

 

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Brown Sugar: This is not only delicious but necessary to get that  caramelized glaze on the onions.  

 
 Gruyere Cheese: If you don’t have this cheese then you can use Swiss, Sharp white Chedder or even Mozzarella instead 

 
Heavy Cream: This is what you will use to get that golden brown edge on the puff pastry! 

 
Cooking onions: Cooking the onions low and slow is best for bringing out the sweetness. Be patient! Allow the onions to cool for about 10 minutes before assembling.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography is the property of and copyrighted to Welcome Home.

Grilled Or Baked Vidalia Onions

 Grilled Or Baked Vidalia Onions

 

I'm sure I'm going to come across someone out there that tells me they have never had one of these. This was featured back in 2012 when I first started Welcome Home.  People raved about how good they are. The recipe kind of faded away until this morning when I was looking through old recipes.  I can tell you that they are so good and yet I find so many have never ever tasted one.  The flavors are so intense and so good its hard to describe just how good they are.  I serve them often as a side dish with steaks or burgers or ribs. They are so easy to make and so delicious!  There's nothing like a sweet Vidalia onion you say.... that's right but try grilling them or roasting them in the oven.  This easy recipe is a keeper my friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Or Baked Vidalia Onions

4 large Vidalia onions 
4 beef bouillon cubes 
4 tablespoons butter, softened 
Freshly ground black pepper 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or fire up your grill. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peel your onion.  Once the outer layers are peeled back, take a small knife and cut a small round cone shaped section from the center of the onion.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next,  cut the onion into quarters from the top down, stopping within a 1/2-inch of the root end. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place a bouillon cube in the cut out hole of each onion, then top with a tablespoon of butter, mashing it down into the top of the onion. Sprinkle with pepper. 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrap each onion tight in heavy duty foil and place the onions directly onto the grill on in a baking pan in the oven.  Make sure entire onion is wrapped in heavy or triple foil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cook the onions for 45 minutes on the grill (turning about every 15 minutes).  Or bake in the oven for 60 minutes without moving it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from oven and place each onion in an individual bowl. Onions will be sweet and tender and produce a lot of rich broth.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Feature Photograph property of ©Welcome Home

French Onion Soup

 French Onion Soup

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is nothing like a warm and cozy soup on a cold winter day. Today I decided it would be a warm and cozy French onion soup that I made with beef Consomme' and beef stock and sweet caramelized onions. Keep in mind, the real secret to a good bowl of French Onion soup is the caramelized onions.  The longer they cook the richer the soup. I topped my soup with a slice of crusty bread covered in melty Gruyere and Parmesan cheese.

French Onion Soup

3 cans of Campbells Consumme'

2 cups beef stock

4 thinly sliced yellow onions (do not use sweet onions)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

French or Italian bread, sliced to fit your crock 

Sliced Gruyere (if you can't find it, use Swiss cheese)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You want at least 2-3 large onions, sliced thin.  In a large heavy skillet or Dutch Oven, melt the oil and butter over medium heat.  Add in the onions and stir to make sure they are coated in the oil and butter. Cook slowly, with the lid on, for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.  Cooking the onions is a slow process by well worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium, add the salt and sugar, and stir often for about 40 minutes until the onions are a deep golden brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When your onions have caramelized, remove from heat and add in your cans of consumme'.  Add salt and pepper to taste and return to the stove and simmer for an additional 30 to 40 minutes. Just before the soup is ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the soup is ready, ladle it into ovenproof bowls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, add Swiss or Gruyere on top of each slice of bread and toast in the oven until cheese has melted.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add your cheesy bread to each crock of soup and push down into the liquid until covered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to lay a slice of cheese on top so that it melts down over the edge of the crock as well. Put the oven safe crock on a baking sheet back in the oven and heat until cheese has melted. Reset the oven to broil and move the tray of bowls closer to the top to get a nice golden color on the cheese, which should be watched carefully as it can burn quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve immediately.

To Store. Refrigerate soup in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days. Store bread separately in an airtight storage container at room temperature. 

To Reheat. Rewarm leftovers in a pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave. If desired, toast leftover bread on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees. 

To Freeze. Freeze soup in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.