17 April 2013

Bookshelf:What Katie Ate’s Caramelised Onion & Goat’s Cheese Tart




A few week’s ago this arrived in the post from The Book Depository.



I have long been a reader of Katie’s blog What Katie Ate.  It was both the photos & the recipes that drew me in.  Recipes using fresh & seasonal ingredients to make wonderful food that is prefect for entertaining & feeding a crowd.  I think that is the biggest appeal for me , that the recipes do lend themselves so wonderfully well to entertaining, for me that is what I love about food & cooking.  The sharing, the conversation, the coming together over good food.

As I hoped, & expected, the book is brimming with Katie’s distinctive & beautiful photography & many, many recipes I want to make; sizzling shrimp, peppercorn beef with chilli & gremolata, baby potatoes with asparagus & caper dressing, mocha chocolate mousse with Irish whiskey, apple ginger & cranberry vodka cocktail.  See what I mean the perfect way to entertain a crowd, in fact it actually sounds like a pretty damn fine party.

These tarts were the first dish that jumped out at me & would be the perfect entree for Supper Club & the extra one made to be photographed was a quite lovely little lunch. I am also sure, as Katie’s suggests, that the onion jam would be great with a wedge of vintage cheddar.  Even better I think you could take it to the next level & make quite a special grilled cheese...that may well have to be tonight’s dinner.



As for the rest of Supper Club to follow the tarts a little salmon with a farro & lentil salad, that will feature here soon as the salad is most certainly one to share, with some minted peas on the side providing a little brightness.  And dessert, well that was to be Nigella’s slow roasted quince. They weren’t bad, but they just didn’t quite turn out as they should so they won’t be making an appearance here!  Let’s just say they were a little too roasted & the jelly turned in to more of a caramel, albeit a quite lovely caramel that even provided a little bit of a workout just trying to eat it.* 

(*chip & gouge it off the plate!) 




Caramelised Onion & Goat’s Cheese Tart - What Katie Ate

Ingredients

For the onion jam:
4 large onions, peeled & finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch salt
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (plus a bit extra if required) * I used cabernet vinegar
1.5 tbsp soft brown sugar

For the tartlets:
1 large sheet good quality puff pastry
1 egg yolk, mixed with a splash of milk
4 heaped tbsp caramelised onion jam (see below)
175g good-quality goat’s cheese, cut into 1.5cm thick rounds
3-4 thyme spring, leaves picked, plus extra sprigs to garnish
Salt & pepper
250ml balsamic vinegar (use the best you can afford)* I used cabernet vinegar

3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

To make the onion jam...

Place onions in a large, heavy based saucepan & drizzle with the olive oil. Stir the onions to coat with the oil & season with a good pinch of salt.  Cook over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes or until softened. Turn down the heat & cook for a further 30 minutes, stirring now & again to stop the onions catching.

Add the vinegar & sugar & stir well.  Cook over low heat for another 30-45 minutes, again stirring now & again to get all the sticky bits from the bottom of the pan. If it does all become a little sticky just add a splash more vinegar.  We are wanting marmalade type texture here. Once cooked remove from the heat & set aside to cool. This will give you about 1.5 cups onion jam. Store in a sterilised jar & keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week.


To make the tarts...

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F

Use a small bowl as a template & cut four circles of pastry & place them on a large baking tray lined with baking paper.  Score a 2cm border around the edges of the circles.  Just be careful not to cut all the way through. Prick the inside of the circle all over with a fork & brush the borders with the egg wash, being careful not to let the egg run down the sides or the pastry will rise unevenly.

Divide the caramelised onion jam among the bases inside the border & spread it out evenly. Place a round of goat’s cheese on top of each tart & then scatter with the thyme leaves & season with a little pepper.

Place the tarts in the oven & bake for 20 minutes or until the puff pastry is  golden & risen & the bases of the tarts are cooked.  While the tarts are cooking, place the balsamic vinegar (*or cabernet vinegar) in a small saucepan & bring to the boil, then reduce the heat & simmer until reduced by half. Add the brown sugar & simmer until the mixture becomes syrupy. Set aside to cool.  The syrup will become more syrupy as it cools.

Serve the tarts drizzled with a little syrup & scatter over a few thyme sprigs.



These were the perfect start to Supper Club.  Sweet onion jam, sharp goat’s cheese & a little earthy thyme.  These little tarts will most definitely be making an encore appearance.

If you like this you might like this Greens & Kikorangi Tart

Enjoy!

6 comments:

  1. Ok, I am seriously going to get onto book depository today and order Katie's and Ottolenghi's books.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yes Alli, get thee to the Book Depository!

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