Just Another Meatless Monday Rustic Caramelized Onion, Wine and Cheese Tart

Rustic Caramelized Onion, Wine and Cheese Tart. Oh HELLO delicious! Wondering what to make for lunch today, with all of us getting over a nasty cold that kicked us down that last few days, brought me to the cupboard where I was storing some onions. I immediately wanted French Onion Soup but being without french bread and the gumption to make it I started thinking about the onion pie I wanted to make. Plus an hour of caramelizing onions just sounded like something I wanted to smell. Once I started the onions I whipped up a batch of pie dough for the crust and let it chill, then I had 45 minutes of sweet freedom until it was show time. I did laundry, I was even too tired and sick to do anything fun. I did poke around on the internet for cooking times and saw many versions of a tart rather than a pie, so I went with the tart, I guess I was feeling rustic.
Once the onions were done and wine soaked it was easy to finish off the tart. I rolled pie dough, topped it with cheese, onions and more cheese, then I just folded it over and baked it. EASY. I think in the end I should have baked it longer, my pie dough was NOT quite done in spots but it didn't stop everyone from demolishing it. Warm food just makes you feel better, doesn't it? 

You  might notice that my crust is a little darker than normal, I used half whole wheat flour in my recipe. Feel free to use all white or half whole wheat in your tart.

Rustic Caramelized Onion, Wine and Cheese Tart
total time 1 hour 45 minutes
3 red onions1/2 cup butter3 Tablespoons red wine1/2 teaspoon saltpie dough for one crust pie--I made a regular batch and saved the second one for a Dutch Apple Pie, you could use a pre made crust 1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheeseflour for dusting
in a heavy pot melt the butter over medium heat then reduce to medium lowslice the onions, cut off the top and the bottom, cut in half and slice top to bottom in stripsadd the onions to the butter, stir to coat and let cook for an hour, stir every 15 minutes or so, don't let them brown or scorch just let them cookmeanwhile make your pie dough or thaw it or let it come to room tempand grate the cheese so it's readywhen the onions have cooked for 50 minutes add the wine, and stir and browned goodness off the bottom of the pan cook for 10 more minutes preheat the oven to 450˚then roll the pie dough out on baking stone or parchment paper about a 12-14 circlelay down half the cheese in the inner 8 inches of the circleadd the salt to the onions and wine, stir to combineand spoon them over the cheesefold up the edges of the pie dough not quite to the center, you want to leave some of the tart opensprinkle the last of the cheese on the topbake for 10 minutes at 450˚ degreesthen reduce heat to 375˚ and bake for 20 minutes morelet it rest for 5 minutes or so, if you can, anywaythen slice and serve

Just add a salad for a perfectly lovely spring luncheon. I'll show you the salad we enjoyed with it another day, I'm just too tired to keep writing.








Peace and Love--