.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Esurientes - The Comfort Zone

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Double Onion, Cheese & Tomato tart



This totally delicious tart was a variation on the Stephanie Alexander Cheese & Onion tart recipe I've made before, from her encyclopaedic Cooks Companion ; a must for any kitchen. I was making some pastry (the perfect pate brisee with dried thyme I found on Clothilde's site) for little tarts to take to a function, and had some leftover. Almost enough to completely line a proper tart pan with a removable bottom, although I didn't quite make it up all the sides and it was a little thin for the creamy filling I made, but I felt very proud of making a tart with a homemade crust for dinner, and not using frozen pastry sheets, as we usually do...

I didn't have enough onions for the recipe so added half a bunch of spring onions (scallions/shallots, depending on what part of the world, or Australia you're in). There still wasn't quite enough bulk to the amount of eggs and liquid involved, but I really enjoyed it that way; it made the filling taste like creamy scrambled eggs; yum! I used a combination of some Havarti cheese from Greece, and a creamy blue cheese I keep in the freezer, because that way it grates really well and you tend to use it in moderation (a good thing when it's expensive and unhealthy, and you have a tradition of eating far too much of it!).
I had some light sour cream in the fridge and used that instead of cream, and then chose to slice a perfect ripe tomato to layer over the top. I think this really made the dish perfect; the creaminess of the filling was perfectly offset by the sweet/salty tomato on top. Early Autumn is the best time for tomatoes in Melbourne, and these homegrown versions did not disappoint.
Served with some rocket I found in the vegetable crisper made this a sophisticated dish for dinner, and there was enough for lunch the next day too!

1 Comments:

  • Niki, this looks like a perfect dish for spring. I think I'd probably use leeks, since my S.O. is an inveterate onion-hater, but I've convinced him that "leeks aren't onions". I think I told him some lie like leeks are more closely related to garlic, which he loves. Anyway, thanks for posting this...I know I'll enjoy it, at any rate.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/31/2005 12:01:00 am  

Post a Comment

<< Home