More tarts

Onion lovers: here's a wonderful main course of onions!

I know friends who do not like onions, garlic, parsley, olive, anchovy...the list goes on. But we love almost all kinds of food that comes with a strong taste, so if you have a chance to try out our cooking, it pays to let us know your dislikes. Otherwise, if you hate onions, there's no way you can remove the onions to the side of your plate in this dish

We found this Onion and Olive Tart on an Olive cookbook by Tess Mallos. Extremely oily, as you basically simmer the onions in extra virgin olive oil. hmmmm....makes it so soft and juicy (and of course fat). And the leftover tart keeps well overnight and taste just as good (or even better) for our lunch the next day. I've halved the original quantity so that it feeds about 2-3 persons.

Onion and Olive Tart
Anchovy (optional, enough to spread around your tart - thankfully for us, anchovy is surprisingly more affordable in NZ)
4-5 pitted black olives, halved
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Topping
3-4 onions, thinly sliced
30ml olive oil (it's very sinful, so adjust according to your conscience)
1/2 bay leaf (we didn't have bay leaf first time we cook this, works well)
2 cloves garlic
chopped thyme
chopped rosemary
salt and black pepper to taste

1 tart base as in previous post


Make the pastry base first.

To make the topping, combine the onion slices, oil and bay leaf in a wide saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft but not browned. Add all other ingredients and cook uncovered over slightly increased heat for about 10 minutes until moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat and discard bay leave and cool.

Preheat oven at 200C. Cook tart base for about 15 minutes. Reduced heat to 180C.

Spread the cooled topping over cooked tart base. Top with anchovy and olive halves in a fancy pattern if you like. Brush with (more) oil and return to bake for 25 minutes until cooked.

Picture above shows the tart in pre-cooked state, so don't be afraid to brown the onions a bit.