Oh my goodness this French Onion and Bacon Tart is ahhhhh-mazing! Since I made the decision to bake my way through the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book it quickly became crystal clear that I’d need to bake some of the savory recipes not always the sweet, sugary items. But those are my favorites! By the way, I am not being compensated by CI for any of my posts as I work my way through their book – maybe I should look into that!
So far I’ve shared several recipes like these Banana Walnut Muffins, yummy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cranberry Nut Quick Bread which is a great way to use up any cranberries you froze after the holidays, and most recently a recipe for the BEST Sugar Cookies, EVER!! As you can see these are all sweet treats. Did you try any of them? I think the sugar cookies and cranberry nut bread were my personal favorites.
Even though sweets are my weakness this French Onion and Bacon Tart is outstanding and I will make it again. For starters I’ve never made a tart crust from scratch but found it easy to execute. Now if I can nail a basic pie crust all will be right with the world. I actually had to pop into my local kitchen store to pick up a 9″ tart pan which I’m certain is a good investment. Here’s the deal with the crust; all butter and made in a food processor, it’s firm enough to press into the pan, eliminating the need to roll and fit the dough into the pan.
There are several “tips’ that accompany this recipe. Regarding the dough; it is recommended to sprinkle walnut sized clumps of dough over the tart pan before pressing it evenly out to the edges and up the sides of the tart pan. Work outward from the center pressing into an even layer making sure to seal any cracks.
Since the onions must caramelize before being added into the custard CI has instructions to cut the onions crosswise as this allows the onions to soften and break down more readily than slicing them through the root end. The second suggestion is to cover them as they cook which enables them to cook in half the time. Saving time while preparing this gourmet tart? Yes please!
Now for WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS. The French elevate a common vegetable to the status of foie gras by gently simmering it in butter, enriching it with custard, and baking it in a buttery crust. The tart is similar to a quiche but delivers a more refined slice of pie, with more onions than custard. Trying to make an onion tart at home can produce a tough crust, hardly worth the time of carefully cooking onions and making custard. We needed to simplify the crust and shorten the overall preparation time.
The final “tip” stay away from sweet Vidalia onions which will make the tart watery.
I promised to share a recipe for Quick Cinnamon Buns but that my friends is for a lazy weekend and those have been few and far between lately. I still have it bookmarked though and it will be coming. I’ve also got my eye on a chocolate tart – of course I do! Are you a fan of Cook’s Illustrated? Do you own the baking book? If so, what have been your fav recipes? I’m all ears!
- CRUST:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes and chilled
- 2/3 tablespoons ice water
- FILLING:
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- Vegetable oil, if needed
- 1 1/2 pounds onions, halved through root end and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- FOR THE CRUST:
- Spray 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom with vegetable oil spray.
- Pulse flour, sugar and salt in food processor until combined, about 4 pulses.
- Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand, about 15 pulses.
- Add 2 tablespoons ice water and process until large clumps form and no powdery bits remain, about 5 seconds, adding up to 1 tablespoon more water if dough will not form clumps.
- Transfer dough to prepared tart pan; pat dough into pan, pressing dough up sides and into fluted edges.
- Lay plastic wrap over dough and smooth out any bumps or shallow areas.
- Place tart shell on plate and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375*F.
- Place frozen shell on baking sheet.
- Spray an extra-wide- heavy-duty aluminum foil with vegetable spray and gently press against dough and over edges of tart pan.
- Fill with pie weights and bake until top edge just starts to color and surface of dough no longer looks wet about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and remove foil and weights.
- Return sheet with tart shell to oven and bake until golden brown, 5-10 minutes.
- Set sheet with tart shell on wire rack.
- Do not turn off oven.
- FOR THE FILLING:
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a non stick skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet or add vegetable to make this amount.
- Add onions, salt, and thyme to skillet.
- Cover and cook until onions release liquid and start to wilt, about 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, covered, until onions are very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice (if after 15 minutes onions look wet, remove lid and continue to cook another 5 minutes).
- Remove pan from heat and let onions cool for 5 minutes.
- Whisk eggs, half-and-half, and pepper together in large bowl.
- Remove and discard thyme sprig from onions.
- Stir onions into egg mixture until just incorporated.
- Spread onion mixture over tart shell and sprinkle bacon evenly on top.
- Bake tart on sheet until center of tart feels firm to touch, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let cool on wire rack at least 10 minutes.
- Remove outer metal ring of tart pan, slide thin metal spatula between tart and tart pan bottom, and carefully slide tart onto serving platter or cutting board.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
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