v:gourmet

This recipe is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg which is a current favourite. He says it’s a “cupboard’s bare” kind of recipe, as if the onions had nothing to do but hang out in their sweat pants and stained t-shirt. Pish posh. I say this recipe holds out its hand to onions and asks if they want to get all dolled up and head out on the town. Put on a little balsamic, a spritz of thyme, puff a little pastry, step into the heat of the kitchen, and whoop it up a little. So what if it takes no time and works with what’s in the cupboard? No saying you still can’t have a little fancy and footloose.

About 200g of ready-made puff pastry

3-4 medium onions

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsps of balsamic vinegar

few sprigs of thyme

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the pastry to a 3–4mm thickness and cut out a 9 inch circle on floured surface. Set aside.

Peel the onions and slice each one into 6 or 8 wedges, keeping them attached at the root end. Heat the oil in an oven-proof 9 inch skillet or cast-iron pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, arranging them roughly in a concentric pattern. Sprinkle with thyme leaves, salt and pepper and cook for about 15–20 minutes, turning once or twice, until they are fairly tender, and starting to caramelize around the edges.

Trickle the balsamic vinegar over the onions and cook for a couple of minutes more, so the vinegar reduces a little. Remove from the heat and make sure the onions are fairly evenly spread around the pan.

Lay the pastry disc over the onions and put the pan into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, until the pastry is fully puffed up and golden.

Invert the tart on to a plate, so the sticky caramelized onions are facing up, on top of the crispy pastry. Serve straight away.