Caramelized Vidalia Onion Tart

Caramelized Vidalia Onion on a Black Pepper and Garlic Tart 

I knew that Wesley was in for a loooooong nap this morning since he slept quite poorly last night. 

1 Long nap for Wesley = plenty of time to invent a new recipe!!


My favorite memory of caramelized onions is when I was about 5 months pregnant with Wesley. I had very few food cravings throughout my entire pregnancy, but there was this one week in particular where I survived almost entirely on caramelized onions and goat cheese. Sometimes it would take 3 large onions and a log of goat cheese to satisfy my craving. It has taken until now, 16 months later, for me to even think about making them again....

Back to the cooking...

I spent an hour this morning studying recipes for homemade biscuits, tarts and crusts. I wanted to front load all the information about proportions so that I could come up with something that was somewhere between a biscuit and a crust. I am actually quite amazed that I was able to pull this off on the first try! The center is flaky and moist like a biscuit but the outside is dry and crunchy like a crust. I think I owe the success of this recipe to butter.  Oh delicious, sinful butter.


Ingredients for the tart:
1 cup all purpose GF flour
5 tbsp butter- cold and diced into small cubes
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp xanthan gum
6 tbsp cold water
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp fine salt

Method: 
1) Preheat oven to 450F. Put the cold, diced butter cubes in a medium bowl and add the flour, corn starch, xanthan gum, baking soda and 3 tablespoons of water. Cut the butter into the mixture with a spoon- you will get a bit of a workout. Continue cutting the butter for at least one minute.

2) Add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time, combining everything in between.

3) When you have formed an even paste, add the black pepper, garlic powder and salt. Combine well.

4) Spray or oil your baking vessel. You can use a cookie sheet or a shallow muffin tin.

5) Grab the dough with your hands and form 8 1-inch balls. Flatten the dough on the pan and make sure that they are even all the way around. It is easy to make them too thin on the edges; try to avoid that!

6) Spray a little cooking oil on top. This step may, or may not be, optional. Since I have only done this recipe this one time, I will have to get back to you on that later.

7) Place in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. The tarts will begin to brown when they are done.


Topping:
2 large vidalia onions:
Sliced thin and caramelized; cook in oil over medium heat for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

There is a lot of room for your culinary imagination when it comes to additional toppings for these tarts. The best part about inventing this recipe was playing around with all the different combinations based on what I had on hand!  I ate all 8 tarts in an effort, you know, to follow proper scientific method.... 

Oven Roasted Brussles Sprouts and goat cheese 

Goat Cheese and Diced Red Bell Peppers  

Mascarpone Cheese, grape tomatoes and avocado with extra black pepper.