Not Just a Man's World

A variation on a pastry-encased Delia Smith recipe this week to complete the collection of five vegetable recipes that were inflicted on my family a few weeks ago.  This was my personal favourite, though only just ahead of the peperonata and carrot roulade, probably because I’ve got a thing for caramelised onions.

It was incredibly easy to make and I’m thinking of playing about with it in a few weeks time to make mini-tartlets for a hen party picnic I’m going to.  If it works, I’ll add the mini-tartlet tips below.

The usual caveat applies that it’s not a non-dairy paleo recipe, however if you leave the grated cheese off the top (which just helps it to turn golden brown) then the dairy ingredient is yoghurt which, as a fermented dairy product, is paleo-approved for many people.

Paleo onion tart

Ingredients (serves 4-6):
700g (1.5 lb) onions, chopped small
50g (2oz) butter
165g (6 fl oz) natural or plain greek yoghurt
3 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp grated cheddar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Grease and line a 6 inch loose-bottomed (or spring-sided) cake tin.
3. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onions.  Stir to coat the onions in the butter and then leave to cook gently over a medium-low heat for about half an hour, stirring frequently to ensure they don’t burn, until they have caramelised to a dark golden brown colour.
4. Whisk together the beaten eggs with the yoghurt and pour a third to a half of the mixture over the base of the cake tin, ensuring that the entire base is coated.
5. Add the onions to the tin, spreading them evenly, before pouring the rest of the mixture as evenly as possible over the onions.  The onions should have reduced enough to fit all the mix into the tin but you may have a little left over – you can fill it right up to the rim though.
6. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the tart and place in the oven for 30 minutes until the filling is puffy and golden brown.  It will rise enormously in the oven, but don’t worry!
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.  The tart will sink back down again as it cools.
8. Once cool, slide a knife round the edges to loosen and then remove the tart from the tin, leaving it on its base.  I found that the onions had sunk to the bottom and, while the little mix I had poured in in advance stopped the onions completely separating out in a layer, it was easiest to serve the tart up on the piece of greaseproof paper which I had used to line the tin base.

Related posts:

1. Paleo recipes: fruit tart
2. Paleo recipes: onion bhaji
3. Paleo recipes: French onion soup
4. Paleo recipes: pumpkin pie