I love comfort food. This warming, hugging food that makes all feel so much better. Especially on winter evenings in front of the fire when you know you don’t have to go outside the door – this is when you need either a creamy soup or an onion tart.
I came across this type of tart when living in Germany. I was part of a craft circle and one of the women made it when it was her turn to host the craft circle. Onions, slowcooked and enriched with caraway seeds – might sound like an odd combination but it works and it gives you the warming, hugging feeling that is so comforting on a cold January evening.
The amount of caraway seeds depends on your liking – add more if you really like the flavour or add less if you are not sure. Caraway has a long tradition of medical uses, primarily for stomach complaints – one reason, the Germans add it to their famous Sauerkraut (the caraway seeds are suppose to make the cabbage better digestible for the stomach).
The onions really benefit from slow cooking in this dish – apart from that, everything else is pretty simple and easy to assemble. You want the sweetness of the onions to come out completely and this is only achieved by cooking the onions on a low to medium heat for about 30 mins – keep an eye on them so that they won’t burn, stirring every now and then.
- Short crust pastry (enough to line an 18cm tart dish
- 3 large onions
- Butter
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 250 ml cream
- 1 egg
- Seasoning
Line the tart dish with a pastry and set aside.
Slice the onions thinly, heat the butter in a frying pan and slow cook the onions until starting to caramelise. That can take a while and taking your time is the key to success with this dish.
Mix the cream with the caraway seeds and eggs. Add some seasoning. Spoon the onions into the pastry case and cover with the cream mixture.
Bake at 160C for about 15 mins or until the cream has set. Serve at room temperature with a lovely fresh salad.
