Ingredients below will make one large (28 cm dia) or one medium and and one small tart (when i do not have a 28cm form, i substitute it with a combination of 24 and 15cm); the results remain excellent!
The smaller is perfectly ok for two people.., so the really large is more than enough for 6.
For the pastry:
- 300 g plain flour,
- 150 g butter, softened,
- 1-2 tbsp water.
For the filling:
- 2 tbsp olive oil,
- 750 g red onions, finely sliced (that’s about 4 very large onions),
- 4-6 shallots, finely sliced,
- 1 tsp sugar,
- 1tbsp fresh thyme, chopped,
- 150 g goats’ cheese, preferably a mild, creamy variety,
- 1 egg,
- 3 egg yolks,
- 100 ml double cream,
- 100 ml milk 1-2 teaspoon,
- salt,
- 1-2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
To make the pastry
- Sift the flour and 1/2 tsp of salt into a bowl.
- Add the butter and with you fingers rub the butter into the flour until absorbed.
- Add water to form thick but workable dough.
- Cover the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry thinly to cover a 28 cm flan dish.
- Prick the base a couple of times with the fork and bake blind in a preheated oven (200 C, 400 F) for about 15-20 minutes.
While the pastry is baking start on making the filling:
- Heat oil in a large frying pan.
- Fry the onions and shallots on a gentle heat until soft and starting to colour, around 15-20 minutes.
- Add the sugar, thyme and salt to taste and mix well.
- Spread the onions into the partly-baked pastry case.
- Beat the egg, yolks, cream and milk together and pour the mixture over the onions.
- Crumble the goats’ cheese over the top and sprinkle with some black pepper.
- Bake in a preheated oven (200 C, 400 F) until the filling has set, approximately 25-40 minutes.