Red onion tart

A simple red onion tart for lunch, dinner or a party

This tart makes a lovely simple dinner with a crisp green salad. Red onions are cooked gently until they are soft and caramelised and then piled onto puff pastry with fresh thyme and parmesan cheese. I tend to make one large tart but you can also make individual ones - choose a vegetarian cheese (Parmesan isn't actually veggie but you can buy a veggie alternative) and this makes a fab veggie main for a dinner party. It's also useful as part of a buffet. Cooking the onions does take some time but that step can be done well in advance and then when you want to eat all you have to do is assemble the tart, pop it in the oven and make a salad.⠀

You can also ring the changes with the cheese - taleggio works beautifully - or try different veg too - mushrooms precooked with butter and garlic would make a fine addition to the topping.

This obviously isn't going to win any prizes for health food of the year! But once again, it's all about balance. Eating like this every day would obviously not be a great plan but once in a while as part of an overall healthy diet? That's ok. And between the onions and the big leafy green salad I'm going to suggest you serve alongside, that's 2 portions of veg sorted 😊

Serves 3-4⠀

Ingredients:⠀

50g butter⠀
5-6 onions, halved then cut into wedges⠀
1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry (try and get the all butter sort if you can)⠀
A little flour for dusting⠀
Small handful fresh thyme, leaves picked⠀
Parmesan cheese, grated⠀

Method:⠀

1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the onions and cook gently over a low-moderate heat until really soft - expect this to take at least 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and don't let them burn.⠀
2. Preheat the oven to 220C.⠀
3. Unroll the puff pastry and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Score a 2cm border all around the edge.⠀
4. When the onions are ready, carefully spoon them onto the pastry, almost up to the edge of the border. Sprinkle over some thyme leaves and plenty of grated Parmesan. Brush the border of the pastry with a little of the butter from the pan.⠀
5. Place in the hot oven and cook for 15-20mins until the pastry is puffed up and golden.⠀