Sweet Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts with Thyme Recipe

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Kerry Saretsky

I'm a grazer. I know I'm supposed to eat three meals a day, but I'd rather take one bite of a million little things than sit down to a huge pot. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life. And my rapacity for variety is why I make an utter fool of myself at cocktail parties. All day, I save up with trembling anticipation for all the little bites I'm going to snatch and devour as they swivel past on silver trays, and I manage to spend more time chasing waiters than toasting the cause of the fête. A few months ago, I was balancing a hot sausage, a flute of champagne, and an imminent handshake—I ended up burned and stained. Je ne regrette rien!

These little tarts are inspired by pissaladière, from the sweet caramelized onions to the pastry crust (although pissaladière is usually made from a yeasty, pizza dough-like crust, puff pastry is an acceptable alternative). But these are softer and sweeter, with the sweetness of the onions enhanced with caramelized brown sugar, and the tang of the fresh goat cheese grounded in the earthiness of thyme. They are crisp and gooey and sweet and savory. And while I do like a million little different bites, the day I made these, all the bites were identical—I ate the whole batch! Serve these with a Côtes de Provence, or a drink called La Piscine that I discovered poolside in Juan des Pins: champagne on the rocks. Bon app!

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Recipe Details

Sweet Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts with Thyme Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 55 mins
Total 60 mins
Serves 9 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter

  • 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

  • 2 stems fresh thyme

  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed, but very cold

  • 2 ounces fresh chèvre (goat) cheese

Directions

  1. In a sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the onions and thyme, and sauté, stirring often, for 15 minutes.

  3. Add the sugar to the onions, and sauté another 10 minutes, adjusting the heat if the onions are turning brown too quickly.

  4. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

  5. Lay out the puff pastry, and use a 2 1/4-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 9 puff pastry circles.

  6. Arrange the pastry circles on a cookie sheet. Top with the onion mixture (remove the thyme stems!), then top with chèvre. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and crisp.

  7. Garnish, if you like, with the stingiest drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and more fresh thyme.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
184 Calories
12g Fat
15g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 9
Amount per serving
Calories 184
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 16%
Saturated Fat 3g 16%
Cholesterol 6mg 2%
Sodium 104mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 15g 6%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 2mg 10%
Calcium 20mg 2%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 72mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)