Onion, Apple and Goat Cheese Tart

Absolutely stupendous. Really re-worked the topping and filling recipes to incorporate the thyme flavor, which I thought was needed, and to take out butter, parmesan cheese, and cream.

It was almost too much to hope for that, taking out all those goodies, this dish would satisfy. But it was excellent in every way. Crispy, whole-grain crusty topping, lush and savory filling, and a creamy touch from the goat cheese, which is supposed to be better for us than cow's milk cheeses.

I'm glad to have so many CSA onions in the last two boxes. Heretofore, onions had been to me a kind of filler ingredient, and I'm enjoying trying to bring them more to center stage. I've discovered that if you want the onion flavor to be pronounced, it helps to use no garlic with them.

The crust was supposed be pre-baked as a rolled-out pie shell in the pie dish, but I have never been able to get oil crusts to hold together, so I flipped the crust into a topping! I added the little bit of sucanat so the crust would echo the sweetness of the apples in the filling.

This recipe would easily adapt with pears and leeks, I think.

Update:  Yep, the pear and leek combo was amazing indeed.  Consider trying it first!

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ONION, APPLE & GOAT CHEESE TART
Adapted from The Secret of Everything by Barbara O'Neal
and from Uprisings by the Cooperative Whole Grain Education Association

Topping:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup spelt, barley, rice or regular flour (or just use all whole wheat)
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sucanat or brown sugar
2 tablespoons ice water

In small bowl, mix all ingredients except the water until blended. Add water and mix in well. Gather dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap and refrigerate to firm it up.

Filling:

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 big 'ol local CSA onion, sliced thinly
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
6 to 8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
6 local, free-range eggs, very well beaten

Oil a 10-inch glass pie dish with about 1 teaspoon olive oil. Keep in mind that your dish should be no more than 2/3 full to allow for expansion of the eggs. I used a 10-inch Pyrex pie dish.

Put the remaining olive oil into a large skillet over low heat. Add the onion and apple, and saute slowly until tender and softened, stirring every now and then.

In the pan, push around the onion mixture to divide it roughly into thirds. Place 1/3 of onion mixture in bottom of pie dish, sprinkle with half the goat cheese, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon thyme. Add another 1/3 of onion mixture, remaining goat cheese, remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and top with remaining onion mixture. Pour eggs over.

Break up topping into crumbles, and spread evenly over top of tart. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is nicely browned and a knife inserted into middle of tart comes out clean, signaling that the eggs are done. But also keep an eye on the bottom of the tart ... if it is getting brown, the tart is probably done and might be fooling you with the knife test. This is why a glass dish is nice.

Remove from oven and let set 10 minutes. Loosen all around the circumference and serve in wedges.