Onion And Bacon Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare dough by pulsing flour, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and salt in a food processor. Add butter, piece by piece, pulsing until all is incorporated. Add water and pulse only until dough forms a ball. Remove; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Remove dough from refrigerator 30 minutes before assembling tarts.
• Meanwhile, prepare filling by cooking onions in butter in 2 large skillets until tender and translucent. Cool in a medium bowl. Beat 4 eggs, 2 egg yolks and cream together. Stir into onions; add cheese, bacon, chives and salt and pepper to taste.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion to fit in 10-inch tart pan with removable rim. Trim dough to fit rim height and prick bottom of dough with fork. Bake crust 7 minutes or just until it begins to turn golden brown. Remove from oven, add filling and bake 15 to 20 minutes more until egg mixture is set. Let cool 5 minutes before removing rim from tart pans. Cut into wedges.
• Note: The chef serves this tart with salad of baby spinach, red and yellow teardrop tomatoes, sliced Hass avocado, toasted pecans and apple cider vinaigrette.
• Recipe by Chefs Frank Randazzo and Andrea Curto-Randazzo

Steps:

• Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until cooked but not crisp and fat has rendered out, about 8 minutes. Drain in a strainer; reserve the fat.
• Place skillet back over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Cook briefly just until they lose their raw edge and soften up slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a teaspoon or 2 of bacon fat if pan seems too dry. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Mix fromage blanc, creme fraiche, nutmeg, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a mixing bowl.
• Place 1 ball of pizza dough on a well-floured surface. Flatten and roll out to a 10- or 12-inch thin circle. Transfer to a cold cast iron pan. Heat over medium-high heat to pre-cook the bottom of the crust. As dough heats and bubbles appear, deflate them with the tines of a fork so crust ends up thin and crisp (not chewy). When bottom is nicely browned and just about to start getting charred, 5 to 7 minutes, remove from heat. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Spread a generous amount of cheese mixture over the crust. Top evenly with some onions and then the bacon. Broil 5 or 6 minutes until edges are browned and starting to lift. Repeat for remaining tartes.

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon, onion, dry mustard, and nutmeg in a large skillet over medium-low heat until caramelized, 20 to 30 minutes. Squish the bacon mixture to one side in the pan and set the pan at an angle so the grease drains to the bottom. Discard grease and let bacon mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine cooled bacon mixture, mozzarella, sour cream, and mayonnaise in a large bowl. Mix together until the consistency is thick like a paste.
• Open 1 can of crescent rolls (keep the others in the fridge until you are ready to open them) and separate each triangle. Use a pizza cutter to cut each triangle into 5 strips by cutting it 3 times across diagonally, and then cutting the 2 longer strips in half.
• Take about 1 teaspoon of the filling and wrap a crescent dough strip around it, stretching it if needed. It doesn't matter if the filling is poking out of the bottom. Line them up on a baking tray and squish the tops flat so they stay upright. Repeat with remaining cans of dough and filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Crust: Preheat the oven to 375º. Put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl and pulse a few times to mix. Dump in all the butter and pulse about 15 times total. You want to cut the butter up smaller than you would for a flaky pie crust. Add in 2 tablespoons of the ice cold water and turn the machine on for 5-6 seconds. You'll know that you have the right amount of moisture in the dough by removing the lid, reaching in and grabbing a handful, squeeze it together and if it clumps...it's perfect. If it is still crumbly and does not stick together, then put the lid back on, add another ½ to 1 teaspoon of ice water and turn on again for another 5-6 seconds.
• Press dough in tart pan. Try and make it an even layer across the bottom of the pan.
• To avoid shrinkage place it on a plate and put it in the freezer to firm up and rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Cook bacon until crispy. Less 2 tablespoons of drippings in pan and cook onions on low/med heat with thyme & salt, covered 20mins. So not brown, sweat the onions. Pull crust out of the freezer, place it on a cookie sheet, add a sheet of foil on top and press it in gently and then fill with your favorite pie weight (dry beans, rice, actual pie weights, marbles, ball bearings). Place in the oven for 30 minutes while the onions are cooking.
• Beat the eggs and add in the half and half, a grind or two of black pepper and a touch of salt, mix well and set aside. The onions, they should be translucent, soft and very fragrant. Remove them from the heat and cool long enough that they won't cook the eggs. When the crust comes out, remove the pie weights and foil. Remove the thyme sprigs from the onions and mix them into the custard. Pour it all into the tart crust, sprinkle with bacon pieces and put it back in the 375º oven for 25-30 minutes on the middle rack.

Steps:

• Put the lardons into a large, cold, non-stick frying pan and turn the heat on low. Cook the lardons very gently, stirring occasionally, until the fat has melted into the pan and they are beginning to brown and crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift the bacon into a mixing bowl and set aside, but keep all the fat in the pan.
• Add the onions, oil and 2 thyme sprigs. Cook over a low heat for 20-25 mins until the onions are softened and beginning to turn golden. Stir in the sugar and cook over a higher heat for 5 mins more until golden brown. Tip into the bowl with the lardons and set aside to cool.
• When the onions are just about cool, tip the bread mix into another mixing bowl with leaves stripped from 1 thyme sprig, and make up following pack instructions, but don't knead or rise. Scatter the semolina, polenta or flour over a 30 x 40cm shallow tin or baking tray, and roll out the dough to fit it. Season the ricotta with 1 tsp salt and some pepper, and spread over the dough, leaving a small border. Mix the egg and Gruyère into the onion mixture with seasoning, then spread over the ricotta. Scatter with remaining thyme. Open-freeze for 2 hrs, then wrap well in cling film and freeze for up to 3 months. Or heat oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6 to bake straight away.
• Cook for 40 mins until base is crisp and golden, then eat warm or cool, sliced into pieces with a green salad. To bake from frozen, heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and bake for 30 mins, then increase temp to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 15-20 mins.

Steps:

• For Dough: mix flour, 3/4 c water, salt and oil in large bowl.
• Add more water by tablespoons if dough is very dry.
• Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes.
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
• Bring to room temperature before continuing.
• For Topping: Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Saute bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat until brown, about 10 minutes.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels, drain.
• Add onions to skillet with bacon fat and saute til tender and brown.
• Remove from heat.
• Puree cottage cheese in blender until almost smooth.
• Transfer to large bowl.
• Add creme fraiche, oil, salt, nutmeg and pepper.
• Stir to blend.
• Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
• Form each piece into ball; flatten into disk.
• On lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk to a 12 inch round.
• Place round on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dougn pieces.
• Divide creme mixture among rounds, spreading to within 1 inch of edge.
• Top each with bacon and onions and bake until bubbly and brown, about 12 minutes.

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Stir together water, honey, and yeast in bowl of mixer and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add flour and salt and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough forms. Attach dough hook and knead dough at medium speed until dough no longer sticks to side of bowl, 10 to 15 minutes. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 4 hours. (Dough will be sticky.)
• Make topping:
• Put pizza stone in bottom third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Sprinkle bacon in a 12-inch skillet and add water. Cook bacon over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is translucent, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, then pour 1 tablespoon bacon fat into a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan. Cool fat to warm, then grease pan with your fingers. Discard any remaining bacon fat and reserve skillet.
• With greased fingers, transfer dough to baking pan and stretch into a small rectangle. Continue to stretch until dough is a 10- by 8-inch rectangle, letting it rest about 3 minutes between stretches. (Dough will become more malleable as it rests.)
• Assemble and bake tart:
• Heat butter in reserved skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook onions with caraway seeds, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Spread onions on a baking sheet and cool completely, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir together crème fraîche, thyme, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl, then dollop over dough and spread evenly to edges with offset spatula. Sprinkle with bacon and onions.
• Bake tart in pan on stone until edges of crust are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack until warm, about 10 minutes, before cutting. Serve warm.
• Available from The Baker's Catalogue (800-827-6836).