Onion Tarte Tatin

Sweet caramelized onions under crisp buttery pastry, flipped upside down so the glossy, sticky onions become the top. The sugar and balsamic create a dark, savoury-sweet glaze. Brilliant with a green salad and a glass of red wine!

Prep20

Cook1

Total1 20

Servings

DifficultyMedium

Ingredients

For the caramelized onions

1 kg onions yellow, red, or sweet
40 gr unsalted butter
1 tbsp sugar
50 ml balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar
few sprigs thyme
1 sheet all-butter puff pastry
salt and black pepper

Equipment

Instructions

Caramelise the onions

Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Melt the butter with the sugar in the skillet over medium heat. Lay the onions in cut-side down, packed snugly. Cook undisturbed for 12 to 15 minutes, until deeply golden underneath.

Deglaze and season

Add the vinegar and thyme and let it bubble and reduce for a minute. Season well with salt and pepper. Take off the heat and let the pan cool for a minute.

Top with pastry

Lay the puff pastry over the onions, tucking the edges down inside the pan around them. Prick a few times with a fork.

Bake

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed, deep golden and crisp.

Flip

Let it rest for 5 minutes. Wearing dry, grippy oven mitts, place a board or large plate over the pan, hold firmly, and flip in one decisive motion. Lift the pan off. Replace any onions that stuck.

Serve

Scatter over crumbled cheese or extra thyme if you like. Serve warm, cut into wedges, with a green salad.

Notes

Get proper colour on the onions before topping with pastry. Pale onions make a pale tart.
Let the pan cool a minute before the pastry, so the butter in it doesn't start melting.
Flip with confidence: dry grippy mitts, board held tight, one decisive motion. The pan and caramel are very hot.
Don't skip the vinegar. It balances the sweetness of the caramelised onions.
Best warm. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven; don't microwave, or the pastry goes soft.

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