A delicious and simple appetizer that is very eye-catching, this recipe features flaky pastry with sweet and savory lightly caramelized onions.
On the Ingredients:
- Puff pastry, also known by its French name pâte feuilletée, is a laminated dough used in baking. It’s made with layers of dough and butter. When the pastry is baked, water in the dough creates steam, pushing the layers apart, and thus leavening the pastry and creating its classic, flaky, light texture. You can make puff pastry from scratch but it is much easier to use frozen sheets.
- Onions are the most commonly cultivated member of the Allium genus (related closely to garlic, chives, scallions, and leeks). They’ve been selectively cultivated for at least 7,000 years, likely starting in West or Central Asia. They’re now used in cuisines all over the world. Onions are nutrient-dense and have a high water content. They are packed with antioxidants and high in fiber. Depending on the variety, they can be sweet to quite intense, with raw onions being somewhat sharp in flavor and cooked deliciously sweet and umami-filled. (Read more about onions).
Recipe Notes and Substitutions:
you can really play with the onion varieties for this tart.
Upside-Down Onion Pastry
Servings
12
servingsPrep time
15
minutesCooking time
20
minutesResting Time
35
minutesTotal time
1
hour15
minutesA delicious and simple appetizer that is very eye-catching, this recipe features flaky pastry with sweet and savory lightly caramelized onions.
Ingredients
1 sheet of puff pastry (thawed)
flour for dusting
1/2 red onion (sliced into thin rings)
1/2 white onion (sliced into thin rings)
1 shallot (sliced into thin rings)
olive oil
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 or more cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
chives (chopped)
1/2 shredded gruyere cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Dust a work surface with flour and lay out your thawed pastry.
- Lightly dust the pastry and use a rolling pin to roll it out slightly. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a large baking sheet. Place the parchment on top of the pastry and use a marker to outline the pastry. Then draw another rectangle around an inch smaller inside the first. This will help you be sure you leave enough room to seal the pastry.
- Put the parchment down on the baking sheet, making sure the marker side is facing down (you’ll be able to see the marker through the parchment).
- Brush olive oil on the parchment covering the inner rectangle. Arrange the onions, covering as much of the parchment (inside the rectangle) as possible. Put the garlic and chives down on top of the onions. Then, fill in any gaps with the tomatoes. Finally, cover the onions with the grated gruyere.
- Place the pastry on top of the onions. It should have an inch overlap. Brush the pastry with olive oil. Use a fork to press the sides down, sealing the pastry against the parchment.
- Bake for 13-20 minutes, until the puff pastry is puffed and golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully turn the pastry over onto a cutting board. Peel the parchment off carefully. The onions and other ingredients may stick to the parchment in places, so peel it slowly.
- Let the pastry cool completely, then slice it into appetizer-sized pieces. Enjoy!
