Upcycling Dough Scraps into a Flavorful Caramelized Onion Tart – Quick Method
This technique offers a quick take on the French onion tart, transforming some leftover of pastry scraps into a quick treat. Save and combine any scraps into a ball and re-roll as the need arises. Pastry freezes beautifully in the freezer compartment, and by skipping two lengthy procedures in the classic method – creating the pastry and caramelising the onions – this version is ready about an hour faster. Instead, the onions are prepared inverted, steaming and caramelizing below a covering of dough with small fish and dark olives for a fast, playful twist on a French classic. Should you have a smaller amount of dough, you can always cut down the method.
Fast Inverted Pissaladière Tarts
The recent wave of upside-down tarts, which became popular on video platforms and photo-sharing apps a few years back, may have started with a delicious and simple fruit and honey pastry or an creative onion tart that even inspired a whole book on upside-down cooking. Personally, I’ve been having a lot of fun with cooking upside down lately, from an extra-long leek tart to these quick pissaladière tartlets. It’s a simple, fun method to prepare something that seems extra-special.
Produces 4 individual tarts
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Sea salt and peppercorns
- 8 anchovies (or 4, for a less intense taste profile)
- Brined olives, to taste
- 120g pastry – light or firm works too
Heat the stove to a hot oven. Strip and clean the onion, then cut into four thick, circular pieces. Prepare a stovetop-safe oven sheet with baking paper, then imagine where you will put each slice of onion. Sprinkle those spots with olive oil and sweetener, then season. Lay two small fish on top of each prepared patch and cover them with a piece of onion. Nestle a few dark olives inside and beside the onions, then season with a extra fat, sweetener, salt and spice.
Turn on two side-by-side stovetop elements to a medium heat, put the tray on top of the burners and allow the onions to simmer without moving for a short time.
At the same time, on a dusted counter, flatten the dough and slice it into four pieces just large enough to cover each slice of onion. Precisely place one pastry square on top of each slice of onion, flatten along the sides with the flat side of a tool, then bake for 20 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Place a board on top of the pastry tray, then flip to flip the tarts on to the board. Carefully lift off the paper and present.
