my famous rustic carmelized onion tart…

I well, up here in what I like to call ‘the arctic” ( ah, I can hear Marie, laughing up in Alaska!) we really try to eat as seasonably as possible, which means a ton of roots and squashes…roasted, pureed into soups, even pumpkin cooked down and pulverized to become a faux ‘mac and cheeze bake’. I find myself needing to ‘cheat’ a bit, and will sneak off to the kitchen to create my fave rustic onion tart…this is simply a wintry version of the rustic berry tart I shared in the summer…only this time filled with carmelized onions and creamy Daiya cheese.…I cheat by topping w/ some little locally grown hothouse tomatoes…I like the extra zing!…anyhoo, not much is ‘new’ this week…just chugging into the home stretch packing some last minute holiday orders…..

This tart never fails to please…and you can cut it in servings and freeze it…cut yourself a slice enjoy as a great side to a cup of soup..or vice versa!

Filling ingredients:

3 medium sized red onions

handuful of grape or cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

Salt

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup (not packed) roughly grated Gruyère Swiss cheese

(I use Daiya brand cheese substitute for my vegan version)

Crust ingredients:

1 ½ c. whole wheat pastry flour ( plus and extra 1/4 c put aside for almond mixture later)

2 T brown sugar
 (or agave nectar, or honey )

4T butter ( vegan substitute 3T canola oil)

1 T canola oil ( ONLY if you use the butter!)

1 egg separated(vegan substitute 1 T flax seed ground in coffee grinder, whipped into 3T H2O)

1 t. lemon juice

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Prepare crust:

Whisk all your flour, salt and sugar source in a med. bowl. Cut in your butter if you are using it or canola oil and blend mixture w/ fingers until it is in coarse crumbs w/ some loose parts. If you have used butter, add your T of oil and blend. Mix in 1/4 cup H2O, egg yolk (or flax seed replacer) and lemon juice. Turn it all out onto a lightly floured  board, knead a few times, roll into a big ball, flatten into a disk, wrap up tightly and refrigerate for at least one hour, but I sometimes leave it overnight and make this in two parts.

Prepare onion mixture:

-Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and sprinkle a little salt over them. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened and are translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are well browned. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for 10 minutes more, until onions are completely caramelized. Remove from heat.

Putting it all together:

-Spread almonds in small baking pan and bake about 4 min ( be careful…these can burn fast!). Let cool, and combine w / ¼ c extra whole wheat flour, and process in a food processor till the almonds are ground. On a lightly floured board , roll out the refrigerated dough to a 13-14″ circle. Brush off excess flour and place on the sprayed parchment baking sheet.

-Spread the almond mixture over it, leaving about 2″ around the edges clear.

-Spread  all the cheese ( except for 2 T for topping) on top of the almonds, and then the carmelized onion mixture. Wash and cut tomatoes in half, lengthwise, and place evenly around the top of the tart.

-Fold the 2″ of border up and over the bottom edge of the onion mound, pleating it as needed.Brush reserved egg white, if you are using egg ( I use soy or almond milk) over this pleated edge. Sprinkle what is left of the cheese on top too

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Bake tart for 15 minutes. Reduce temp to 350 degrees and bake till crust is golden and the onion mound has sunken and is bubbly…maybe  another 30-35 min. Leave the tart on the parchment, slide it VERY carefully onto a wire rack and cool. Cut in slices, like a pie.

The vegan substitutions are from my all time favorite vegan cooking site, called The Post Punk Kitchen..Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a Goddess! enjoyeux!