Tomatoes, caramelised onion, puff pastry and Parmesan cheese are made for each other. When I first tasted this organic tomato and caramelised onion puff pastry tart I was blown away by the flavours. It’s an easy to make and prepare recipe, but keep in mind that you have to take your time caramelising the onions! There is a huge difference between the sharp taste of a raw onion (can be nice in very small amounts, for example in a salade Niçoise) and the elegant sweet taste of caramelised, soft and golden brown onions like these. If you take your time and put some love in this dish, it doesn’t matter that you use a lot of onions – when they are cooked they are much easier to digest. Think French onion soup – kind of the same thing. This pastry based tart is the perfect snack or starter, or even main course if you serve in with a side salad, a piece of fish/meat or some veggies. Serve it on a big wooden board (optional with some baking peper underneath) for the rustic farm style feeling!

Ingredients

Serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil
600 gram onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
375 gram packet of puff pastry
30 gram finely grated Parmesan cheese
800 gram sliced mixed organic tomatoes
3 tablespoons pitted olives
2 teaspoons dried thyme or other Italian herbs you like
2 large handfuls of rocket, dressed in a little olive oil and lemon juice (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220° Celcius
2. Heat a saucepan over medium heat with the olive oil and cook the onions for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions must look soft and caramelised, dark brown (not black) and they shrink quite a bit, so if they don’t look like that yet, they’ll need a little longer (good caramelised onions do take time, but it’s so worth the taste!)
3. Add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until you’re happy with the result. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
4. Roll out pastry to a 20 x 40 cm rectangle on a lightly-floured surface and place on a lined baking tray. Safe some pastry and cut a 1 cm border, place the border on top of the edge of the pastry, all around it. This will give your tart a nice finishing result.
5. Prick the pastry with a fork and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese around it, on top of the edges (and if it’s too much also inside) Place the onions on top of pastry base, and arrange the tomato and olives over it. Add some dried thyme or other Italian herbs if you like.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with dressed rocket (optional).

This onion and tomato tart is perfect as side dish at the braai, as starter/snack on a dinner party or as main family dish during the week.

Source:
The original recipe is from my friend Erna. She made this tart for the first time on New Year’s Eve 2014-2015 (we were there!) and it was delicious. Almost a year later, she made the recipe again to be part of the Bridge House School recipe book called “For the love of food”.

Thank you Erna and the Bridge House School Recipe book. I love this tart!

Before oven

After oven. Bon Appétit!