A French onion tart, cooled but still warm out of the oven, is a truly wondrous thing. Hailing, originally, from Alsace, it’s one of the unsung heroes of French regional cooking, sadly forgotten over here until ‘modern British’ chefs, Simon Hopkinson and Rowley Leigh reintroduced us in all its glory. Somewhere between a Quiche Lorraine and Alsatian ‘flammkuchen’ pizza it’s one of those rare beasts that, despite holistic perfection in its original form, is no enemy of the home cook that just can’t leave good things alone. Bacon lardons and various cheeses (Comte, Gruyere, Beaufort etc in particular) are the standard variations and all bring something to the party but the sweetness of the onions also lends itself to all things smoked. The smoked haddock, chicken and bacon/ham theme has been well mined in the Ben’s Farm Shop kitchen, and elsewhere, but our version of Calabrian salami, nduja, is even better. Being made up, primarily, of pork fat, it melts into the onion mix giving an underlying but not overpowering heat without detracting from the sweetness of the onion. The ricotta is a slightly gratuitous, icing on the cake - adding to the onions sweetness and flashed under the grill, it gives an attractive ‘burnt peak’ appearance.
As with all pies, you can get to eight out of ten but those last few points depend on the quality of the pastry and you’re only ever going to get those if you make your own. In the BFS kitchen we make tonnes of the stuff and for commercial pastry, it’s pretty good – but because we make it by the hundred weight, it’s always going to be overworked way past the ‘short’ stage. There are whole books out there on the subject so I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel but whatever route you chose; you’re going to need about 500gms for a 2½cm deep, 28-30 cm tart case.
Tip the ricotta onto a plate and leave in the fridge for an hour or two (ideally overnight) to firm up.
Grease your tin, roll out the pastry (premade or bought) and transfer to the pie case. Press into the corners and trim around the top leaving a cm or so to bend over and reinforce the sides. Prick the base and chill for half an hour or so. Line with baking parchment and weigh down with baking beans.
Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the onions. Cook for about twenty minutes until soft and just beginning to brown. Taste and season with salt, pepper and, if it needs it, a pinch of salt.
Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the crème fraiche and lightly beat. Fold in the onions and diced nduja.
Meanwhile, you will have blind baked the pastry case at 180°C for fifteen minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and bake for another five minutes.
Spoon the onion / nduja mix into the pie case. Make some small indentations in the filling, chop up the ricotta as best you can and carefully dot into the holes.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 190°C until reasonably firm but still a little wobbly and cool.
Ingredients
Directions
Tip the ricotta onto a plate and leave in the fridge for an hour or two (ideally overnight) to firm up.
Grease your tin, roll out the pastry (premade or bought) and transfer to the pie case. Press into the corners and trim around the top leaving a cm or so to bend over and reinforce the sides. Prick the base and chill for half an hour or so. Line with baking parchment and weigh down with baking beans.
Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the onions. Cook for about twenty minutes until soft and just beginning to brown. Taste and season with salt, pepper and, if it needs it, a pinch of salt.
Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the crème fraiche and lightly beat. Fold in the onions and diced nduja.
Meanwhile, you will have blind baked the pastry case at 180°C for fifteen minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and bake for another five minutes.
Spoon the onion / nduja mix into the pie case. Make some small indentations in the filling, chop up the ricotta as best you can and carefully dot into the holes.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 190°C until reasonably firm but still a little wobbly and cool.