Friday, July 25, 2014

Warm goat cheese tart w/ caramelized onions

from: theredspoon.com
I made a smaller portion

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
2 extra-large egg yolks
3 tablespoons ice-cold water

Filling:
1/4 olive oil
3 large yellow onions, halved through the stem end and thinly sliced into 1/8-inch half-moons
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 ounce fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 extra-large eggs
1 extra-large egg yolk, beaten

DIRECTIONS:

To make the crusts, combine the flour, salt and chilled butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the 2 egg yolks and ice water through the feed tube. Continue to process until the dough forms a ball, about 20 seconds. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 1 disk if making the 10-inch tart. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator.

Over a low flame, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir occasionally, cooking the onions until soft and golden reducing their volume by nearly half; this can take up to 1 hour. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, draining off any excess oil. Discard the thyme and bay leaf.

Meanwhile, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Coat the tart pan with nonstick spray. Fit the dough snugly into the pan pressing it firmly into the bottom edges and sides. trim the excess with a sharp knife and prick the dough several times with the tines of a fork. Place the tart pans on a sheet tray for easy handling. Line the dough with aluminum foil, and weigh down with raw rice or beans. bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue to bake a few minutes more, until the crust takes on a light brown color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while the filling is completed.

In a food processor or in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the goat cheese, cream cheese, 2 eggs, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Process until smooth.

Spread the caramelized onions evenly over the bottom of the prebaked tart shells and pour the cheese mixture over the onions, filling to just below the rim. Using a wide pastry brush, gently brush the beaten egg yolk over the top of the tarts.

Bake for 12 minutes, until set. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm.