1 week ago
13
There’s a pan of onions on the hob. Slices of fat, brown-skinned onions, now peeled and sliced and on their long, long journey from crisp, white and pungent to sweet, golden and soft enough to crush between thumb and forefinger.
I am not exaggerating when I say the process is slow. Try to hurry, or forget the occasional stir, and your onions will end up hard and singed. Take your time and they will emerge sticky and golden, with the bonus of a thin layer of sweet goo on the bottom of the pan.
These onions are to be a filling for a tart. Not a quiche-like egg and milk filling, but one that’s purely of onions, thyme and cheese – a heavily veined creamy blue, at that.
This will be a slim tart that can be eaten for lunch with a winter leaf salad (spinach, red chicory and frisée, perhaps) or simply cut into squares and wolfed with a cold beer. Either way, it is not a job to be hurried.
Meanwhile, there are slices of sweet potato in the oven, soon to be tossed with a miso dressing. The plan is that they will come from the oven slightly caramelised to sit on top of a mound of sticky rice.
The miso dressing works well with maris pipers and is also a useful one for tossing with green, chubby heads of pak choi. Which, incidentally, I would steam so that you can get the contrast between the sweet juicy stalks and the sweet, aromatic syrup.
Onion tart
You can fill the raw pastry shell with the onions and bake it, but you will get crisper pastry if you cook the tart shell first, then fill it. Pretty much any cheese is suitable here, but a creamy blue, such as gorgonzola or stichelton, adds a deliciously piquant note. Best to avoid saltier blues like roquefort for this one. You will also need a rectangular 20 x 30cm tart tin. Serves 6. Ready in 90 minutes
For the pastry:
butter 90g
plain flour 150g
egg yolk 1
parmesan 4 tbsp, grated
water 1-3 tbsp
For the filling:
onions 1.2kg
olive oil 3 tbsp
thyme leaves 2 tbsp
garlic 2 cloves
sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
creamy blue cheese (such as stilton or stichelton) 175g
First make the pastry. Cut the butter into small pieces, then put it into a food processor together with the flour and a good pinch of salt. Reduce to fine crumbs, then add the egg yolk, grated parmesan and as much water as needed to make a firm but rollable dough (usually 1-3 tbsp). Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured board and bring together into a ball. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
For the filling, peel and halve the onions and cut into thin segments. Warm the oil in a large, deep saucepan. Add the onions and let them cook, partially covered by a lid, for a good 25 minutes until soft and golden. Stir them regularly.
While the onions are cooking, chop and stir in the thyme leaves. Peel and carefully grate the garlic and stir into the onions. When the onions are pale gold in colour, sticky and soft, stir in the sherry vinegar and a grinding of salt and black pepper.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured board to fit the tart tin. Lower it into place, usher it up the sides of the tin and trim any overhanging pastry.
Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6 and place an empty baking sheet in to heat up. Loosely line the pastry with kitchen foil or baking parchment and fill with baking beans (I use old coffee beans), then bake on top of the heated baking sheet for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and baking beans and return to the oven for 5 minutes until dry to the touch.
Crumble the cheese into pieces about the size of a hazelnut. Transfer the onions to the baked tart case and distribute the cheese among them. Bake on top of the hot baking sheet for about 30 minutes until the surface is golden.
Leave to settle for 15 minutes, then cut into pieces with a large, sharp knife.
Sweet potato with miso and maple syrup dressing
This warmly aromatic glaze for sweet potato is at its best when it is almost caramelised (and why I suggest cooking the potatoes on foil, so the pan is easy to clean). I usually eat this as a light supper with rice, but the sweet orange potato slices and their dressing make an interesting side order for grilled chicken. Serves 2, with rice. Ready in 1 hour
sweet potatoes 500g
white miso paste 2 tbsp
ginger 40g, fresh
garlic 2 cloves
light soy sauce 3 tbsp
soft brown sugar 1 tbsp
maple syrup 1 tbsp
mirin 1 tbsp
groundnut or vegetable oil 4 tbsp
Heat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with kitchen foil. Peel the sweet potatoes, slice into rounds roughly 1.5cm thick, then lay them out on the foil in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender. Test with a metal skewer – if the point goes through them effortlessly, they are soft enough.
While the potatoes bake, make the dressing. Put the miso paste in a small mixing bowl. Peel and finely grate the ginger into it, then do the same with the garlic. Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, mirin and oil, then mix well to a loose dressing.
When the potatoes are ready, pour the dressing over and turn them with kitchen tongs to evenly coat. Return to the oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the sauce has started to caramelise. Serve with steamed rice and, if you wish, chopped coriander.
Follow Nigel on Instagram @NigelSlater
