Caramelized onion and goat cheese tart

This individual caramelized onion and goat cheese tart is easy to make and so delicious.The combination of sweet, soft onions, gently tart cheese and crisp base is so good. It makes a great lunch or appetizer.

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I do enjoy a flavorful quiche, and my family are very much on board if it's something like a quiche Lorraine (some need more convincing if's a veggie based version). And quiche or tart in mini version feels even more special somehow. You don't need to share, and it feels that bit more delicate and elegant.

This lovely little tart is almost like a quiche in some ways, but it's so heavy on the filling rather than custard-like part that savory tart feels more appropriate. Or tartlet, I suppose. But whatever you call it, it's delicious and well worth trying.

I've adapted these little tarts a couple times since I originally made them, but in each case, I've kept the combination of the caramelized onions and goat cheese. The two pair so well with that tender sweet and piquant tartness mingling together.

These goats cheese tartlets are very easy to make, even if there are a couple steps to them. But each of them is easy and you can do some of it ahead of time, too.

Plus, you only need a few relatively simple ingredients.

Making the pastry bases

These little tarts have a very simple shortcrust pastry base which comes together easily in the food processor. You could also mix by hand, by cutting the butter into the flour then adding water gradually.

You can use both regular all purpose/plain flour, or mix in part wholewheat pastry flour if you prefer. The wholewheat gives a nice extra bit of flavor that works well.

If you prefer, you could use ready-made pastry but this is really quick to mix up, especially if you let the food processor do the work. Then roll it out thinly and fill the tartlet pans.

Since you shouldn't need to handle the pastry too much, you only need to chill the filled tart pans briefly, but I do definitely recommend chilling them a bit. If the pastry is not gently cool when you bake, there's more chance the pastry will shrink more.

If you are worried that the pastry is too soft, then feel free to chill them for a bit longer. You can also make the pastry and line the tart pans ahead of time if it suits your schedule better that way - a couple of hours would be just fine.

Why blind bake the pastry?

Blind baking the pastry serves two main purposes. Firstly, pre-cooking the pastry makes sure it is cooked through properly at the same time as the filling is ready. It helps avoid you overcooking the filling to try to get the pastry to cook. Which still might not happen. Especially with small tarts like this where the filling cooks relatively quickly, it's worth pre-cooking the pastry.

Secondly, specifically blind baking helps stop the pastry puffing up in the middle or shrinking down the sides as it cooks. Both mean more space for the pasty filling!

If you cook the pastry open, both are more likely to happen. So bling baking first helps the pastry cook a bit with the baking beans helping it stay in place. Then, a short cook without the baking beans helps the pastry dry out a little before you add the filling.

Making the filling

The filling has only a handful of ingredients, but there's no getting away from the fact that it requires some time to prepare. Caramelized onions can't be rushed - if you try they will likely not have that lovely sweet flavor, burn, be raw or some combination of all.

However, it's really easy to work on cooking the onions as the pastry chills and bakes. Just keep one eye on the time for the pastry, and another on the onions, and reduce the heat, stir, or add oil as needed.

You then make a simple custard with the egg and cream. After that, it's time to layer up the filling. First, add the onions, followed by the cheese then the egg mixture. Gently press down the cheese so that it is largely covered by the egg mixture before you bake until the filling is set and gently browned.

If needed, you may want to turn the tarts part way through cooking to make sure they brown evenly.

Serving ideas

I think these tartlets are best served warm and make a delicious lunch, especially with a salad alongside. They also work well at room temperature and can make a great appetizer or enjoy as part of a brunch. The crusts are nicely robust so you could pack them to take for a picnic, too.

These have a lovely flavor on their own, but definitely benefit from a light, bright salad alongside. I originally thought about a simple arugula/rocket salad, but then added the fennel and grape salad described below with a super simple dressing.

The fennel and grape flavors work really well with the tartlets, and so I would definitely recommend them in the salad, whatever greens you choose to add.

You could also bulk it out, or of course try other combinations as you have and prefer. Things like my beet apple salad, fennel orange salad or strawberry asparagus salad (maybe without the goat cheese toasts) would also all pair well.

This caramelized onion and goat cheese tart is such a lovely simple yet flavorful combination. There's something really nice about having your own individual tartlet, except for the fact that when it tastes this good, there's not extra to come back for seconds. But it's a small price to pay (and hey, no judgement if you enjoy more than one).

Try these other savory tarts and quiche:

• Mushroom galette
•  Fig goat cheese and bacon quiche
• Savory cranberry and cheese tart
• Plus get more lunch recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

This post was first shared in July 2015 as part of a tribute to Selma from Selma's Table, whose recipe for warm blue cheese tartlets with walnut dressing partly inspired this recipe. It has since has been updated with some tweaks to the recipe, additional notes and new photos.

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