Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner: Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart

For this month's Baking Partners Challenge, I made this simple but really good Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart...

This is Chef Martin Picard's recipe and was suggested by Samanta of Samanthamenzies. Though we were given 4 recipes to choose from, I didn't have a hard time choosing. Aside from the fact that I soooo love sun-dried tomatoes, this savory tart is so easy to make. I actually planned of making puff pastry from scratch, but I got sick and didn't get the chance to, so I ended up using a ready made puff pastry. For easy serving, I pre-cut each puff pastry sheet into 6 pieces. Chef Picard's recipe calls for two sheets of 9x9 puff pastry. I wasn't sure if my daughters will like the Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart, so I decided to cut the ingredients in half and just use one sheet. For the other sheet, I used a different topping. I sauteed 1 cup chopped ham, ½ cup onions, 1 cup chopped mushrooms, 1 cup chopped spinach and season it with salt and pepper. My daughters loved the ham-mushroom-spinach and Gruyère topping! But I must say, the hubs and I enjoyed the Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart. The layers of caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and Gruyère cheese on top of that flaky crust was perfect for our taste buds!

My sincerest thanks to Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen for another wonderful challenge...and of course, Samantha of Samanthamenzies for choosing this recipe!

Recipe from The Wall Street Journal

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 sheets thawed puff pastry, 9 by 9 inches

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 cups thinly sliced onions

4-6 sprigs thyme

Salt, to taste

1½ Tbsp Dijon mustard (I didn't have Dijon mustard so I just use the Sweet & Hot Mustard I have)

1½ Tbsp heavy cream

1 cup grated Gruyère

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dust a flat surface with flour and unfold the pastry sheets on it. Cut into 6 pcs. each. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and place sheets of puff pastry on them. Prick surface with fork, leaving a ½-inch border untouched. Bake until pastry bottom is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

2. Meanwhile, prepare onions. Set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Swirl in oil and add onions, thyme and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions turn golden and sweet, about 15 minutes. Season with salt. In a small bowl, mix mustard with cream. Once pastry is slightly cool, return it to baking tray and spread mustard-cream sauce over top, leaving ½-inch border untouched. Scatter half of cheese over sauce and top with onions. Add remaining cheese and tomatoes over top. Return trays to oven and bake until cheese melts and browns in spots, about 15 minutes.