Onion Tartlets


Light, Fresh - Fabulous

Ingredients
0.75 cup 190 ml   Flour
0.25 cup 60 ml   Cornmeal
1 tbsp 15 ml   Sugar
0.5 cup 125 ml   Lard (+ two tablespoons)
  Ice Water (around 1/4 of a cup - enough to bind the pastry)
2 large   Onions
  Parsley/Thyme/Rosemary
  Salt and Pepper
  Olive Oil
0.5 cup 125 ml   Cheese (cheddar, goat, parmesan, swiss... )
 
1. Blend the flour, cornmeal and sugar together. Add in the lard or vegetable shortening and cut in with a pastry blender. Add a tablespoon of cold water in to the mixture, and stir gently with a fork. Keep adding tablespoons (3 or 4 should do it), until the mixture has formed a cohesive dough. Cover the pastry and place in the fridge to cool.

2. Meanwhile, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium low heat. Slice the onions lengthwise into slim julienned pieces. Caramelize the onion slices over medium-low or low heat stirring occasionally. Stir in liberal dashes of salt and freshly ground pepper, along with a couple tablespoonsful of chopped herbs. Take the onions off the stove when they are golden browned and limp - about 20 minutes.

3. Roll the pastry out quite thin, and cut out rounds to fill either mini tart pans, or muffin tins. Bake the pastry in a 400*F oven for 20 minutes - until golden brown. Once the tarts are cooled, spoon the caramelized onions into each shell. Top the tarts with grated cheese (any old cheese will do) and heat the onion tarts in a low temperature oven until the cheese is grated before the guests arrive.