Upcycling Dough Leftovers into a Tasty Caramelised Onion Tart – Simple Guide
The following technique offers a quick take on the French onion tart, converting some leftover of dough trimmings into a impromptu treat. Store and gather any leftovers into a lump and re-roll as and when required. Dough stores nicely in the freezer, and by avoiding two laborious steps in the standard preparation – making the dough and cooking slowly the onions – this version is ready in nearly half the time. Alternatively, the onions are cooked upside down, cooking and caramelizing below a blanket of pastry with salted fish and brined olives for a speedy, fun take on a iconic French recipe. And if you have a smaller amount of dough, you can always reduce the method.
Speedy Inverted Pissaladière Tarts
The recent trend of inverted pastries, which spread quickly on video platforms and Instagram a recently, may have started with a tasty and simple sweet pastry creation or an inspirational savory tart that even led to a entire publication on upside-down cooking. Additionally, I have been enjoying myself with inverted baking recently, from an lengthy vegetable pastry to these speedy small onion tarts. It’s a straightforward, fun method to prepare something that appears especially impressive.
Makes 4 individual tarts
- 1 purple onion
- 2 tbsp extra virgin oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- Kosher salt and peppercorns
- 8 anchovies (or 4, for a subtler taste)
- Dark pitted olives, to taste
- 120g pastry – puff or shortcrust is suitable too
Preheat the stove to 410F/210C. Peel and trim the onion, then cut into four sizable, circular pieces. Cover a heat-resistant cookie sheet with non-stick paper, then imagine where you will position each piece of onion. Sprinkle those spots with olive oil and honey, then season. Lay two fillets on top of each prepared area and top them with a piece of onion. Nestle a few dark olives inside and beside the onions, then season with a little more olive oil, honey, seasoning and spice.
Switch on two neighboring stovetop elements to a warm setting, put the sheet on top of the burners and leave the onions to simmer untouched for 5 minutes.
At the same time, on a sprinkled with flour counter, spread the dough and slice it into four squares sufficiently sized to cover each round of onion. Precisely place one dough piece on top of each piece of onion, flatten along the sides with the back of a utensil, then bake for twenty minutes, until the dough is crispy. Set a board on top of the pastry tray, then flip to turn the tarts on to the surface. Carefully remove the parchment and serve.
