Everyone has a guilty pleasure, for me it’s cheese and onion crisps and a glass of ice cold beer. Some combinations are just irresistible. Cheese and onion are the perfect mix of salty and sweet, which I can never get enough of it. I decided to interpret this into a more grown up snack in the form of a cheese and onion tart. The crispy puff pastry gives just the right amount of crunch, the caramelised onions are perfectly sweet and the salty cheddar makes them extremely tasty and moreish. I added some eggs and cream to bind it all together, which gives them a lovely creaminess. The final hint of thyme makes them a little more adult and delicious. These tarts make yummy picnic treats, and are also great with a glass a of beer 🙂
Ingredients
- 15g of melted butter, for greasing tartlet tins
- 375g of ready-made puff pastry sheet – for 8 tartlet cases
- 40g of butter
- 2 large Spanish onions
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon of cream
- 50g of gruyere or mature cheddar cheese, grated
- Pinch of fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper
Method
Start by greasing eight small tartlet tins with the melted butter. Place the pastry sheet on a floured surface. Cut the sheet into 8 equal sized squares. Fit each square into the greased pastry cases. Remove the excess pastry from around the edge with the back of a knife. Leave the pastry cases to cool in the fridge.
Meanwhile peel and chop the onions into thin slices. Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Cook the sliced onions in the melted butter over a low to medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. You want the onions to lightly caramelise, so they will take about twenty minutes to turn a nice pale golden brown. Once they are soft and golden, remove them from the heat and leave them to cool.
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Next, beat the eggs, cream and grated cheese together with a fork. Season with salt, pepper and a little fresh thyme. Add the cooled onions to the beaten egg mix and combine together with a spoon. Take the pastry cases out of the fridge and divide the onion mix equally between the 8 cases. Place the tarts in the preheated oven. Cook for 20-30 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. If they start to burn on top, you can place some tin foil loosely over them, towards the end. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. As sson as they are cooled, remove from the tins and serve with a a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a green salad. Enjoy!
