By David Tanis
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus chilling
- Rating
- 5(317)
- Notes
- Read community notes
For the holidays, cookie platters abound, but for those without a sweet tooth, these little savory tarts are just as appealing. Caramelized onions and Gorgonzola on buttery pastry rounds, topped with walnuts and sprinkled with rosemary — what’s not to love? Perfect with drinks, they reheat beautifully, too.
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Ingredients
Yield:24 small tarts
- 1cup/150 grams all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 4ounces/113 grams unsalted butter, cold, cut in ¼-inch cubes
- 2tablespoons/30 milliliters ice water
- 1tablespoon/15 milliliters lemon juice
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1pound yellow onions, sliced ⅛-inch thick (about 2 cups)
- Salt and pepper
- 3ounces Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, cut or broken into ½-inch chunks
- ½cup walnut pieces
- 1tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
- 2tablespoons finely cut chives
- Fleur de sel, for sprinkling (optional)
For the Pastry
For the Topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
100 calories; 8 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 2 grams protein; 70 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the pastry: Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add half the butter and work it into the flour until it resembles damp sand. Add the rest of the butter cubes, the ice water and lemon juice and mix just until the dough comes together. (There will be little chunks of butter in the dough — this makes the pastry flaky.) Form dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic and flatten to a 1-inch thickness. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to a day in advance.
Step
2
Make the topping: Put olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and brown for about 5 minutes, stirring. Season generously with salt and pepper. Turn heat to medium and cook until onions are soft and well browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Step
3
Roll out pastry to about ⅛ inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter or a glass, cut out 2-inch rounds and move them to a plate. Once you've filled the plate, transfer to the refrigerator. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut rounds, chilling as you go. You should have 24 pieces.
Step
4
Line 2 baking pans with parchment and lay 12 pastry rounds on each. Put about 1 tablespoon of the caramelized onions on each round, followed by a piece of Gorgonzola. Top each with walnut pieces. Sprinkle with a small pinch of chopped rosemary.
Step
5
Transfer to oven; bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Sprinkle each tart with chives, and a speck of fleur de sel, if using. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- May be baked up to 6 hours ahead. Reheat, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Ratings
5
out of 5
317
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Cooking Notes
Perignon
I've been making something very similar for years, using a variety of different savory toppings. The most popular one I make is topped with finely chopped shrimp, (simmered gently for 2 minutes in garlic butter w/ a pinch of cayenne) grated Gruyere, and toasted almonds (roughly crushed) with fresh slivered basil as the garnish. I did a batch of 5 dozen, served to a total of 9 people for the 4th of July, and they vanished in 15 minutes.
Nancy Smith
What are your thoughts about making these ahead of time and freezing them?
Carolyn Baker
Made these for a party and people loved them. As Elinor says, the dough is very forgiving, doesn't toughen at all when re-rolling. A few of my walnuts burned so I suggest keeping the walnuts in the freezer just prior to placing them on the tarts.
Christy K
These were a hit last night for New Years Eve! The onions that touched the tray burnt for me so confine them to the cracker. The crackers were tender and flaky like puff pastry. The only negative is we didn't get much Rosemary flavor. Next time I would consider adding a bit to the onions near the end of cooking to see if the Rosemary flavor perfuses better.
Matt and Janille
Delicious! I chopped the onions after caramelizing and mixed them with the other ingredients. Instead of placing the pastry rounds flat on a baking sheet I gently pressed them into mini muffin tins. This resulted in little "nests" that cradled the filling instead of a layered presentation. It made 32 tarts none of which lasted long.
Liz
These are great! I made them at the last minute for an appetizer party, so cheated and used pre-baked phyllo pastry cups instead of taking the time to make the dough. Everybody loved them and they quickly disappeared. The rosemary was undetectable, so will follow others' suggestion to cook some with the onions next time.
Wordsworth from Wadsworth
Most gorgonzola is little hard, and has a relatively high melting point. Other blue cheeses have more moisture and melt more easily. I think which brand of gorgonzola or which blue you choose would have a big effect on this recipe.
Obviously, taste is the most important attribute of cheese. But knowing how it melts is so important in cooking. I think there should be a touchstone for cheese melting created, and all cheeses should be compared to that.
nanbrand
Brought these appetizers to a party last night, and all of them were gone within 15 minutes. Very tasty. Next time I will increase the amount of onions as they add a bit of moisture, and this appetizer was a little dry. Because others said they could not taste the rosemary, I chopped it fine and then cooked it with the onions, then added additional rosemary on top of the appetizer. I will definitely make this again!
Andy
Worked well with frozen phyllo cups to save a bit of time.
cbg1300
These were delicious and a big hit. Relatively quick to put together once the onions are carmelized and the tart dough prepared. Endless variations possible. Next time I'll make them with Gruyere cheese instead of Gorgonzola and thyme instead of rosemary. But as written, these are a keeper.
Amit
Used puff pastry — make sure to roll out thin; it will puff and shift ingredients! Cook rosemary towards end of onions; add torn bit of sage just before oven. Would reduce onion cooking time a slight bit to ensure proper flavor and sub Gorgonzola for Fotina or Gruyere. Delicious and devoured by the party! Chives & FDS a pre-serve must.
Carol G
I am always on the lookout for appetizers that can be taken to a potluck. These were a big hit. Finished them about 2 hours before serving. They are fine at room temperature. They were also the first appetizers to disappear. I will definitely make them again.
eleni
Delicious. that being said, do *_NOT_* do what I did, namely, use frozen prepared puff pastry and put them into mini-muffin tins. I should have known better, but the pastry puffed and pushed the onions and cheese out.I'll make these again when I know that I have time to make my own pastry. I will try the mini-muffin tins again - I like the idea of the onions+cheese in a cup.This recipe does make an over-abundance of onions but in our house, it's never a problem to use them up!
Bernice
Do you make the dough by hand or with a mixer?
Nanou
Gorgonzola has a high melting point so choose a different blue cheese or Gruyere. You can substitute thyme for rosemary and perhaps use cook that with onion rather than putting it on top at the end.
Brooke H
These are really fabulous but at least in my kitchen, 2 cups of sliced raw onion did not cook down to anywhere near 24 tbsp - it was more like 12 packed tsp.
Jeanne
Put a half a dozen of these together pretty much as written except all from leftovers. A but of pastry leftovers from Thanksgiving pie, Gorgonzola & carmelized onion in frig. and walnuts foraged from an abandoned walnut grove. Great recipe and a good reminder to save that leftover bit of pastry that is inevitably leftover from making pie. Many riffs on this idea possible but this combo was quite delicious.
dai
It's fine not great. Dough was difficult -- in fact I really thought I wouldn't have a dish to bring. Topping was, as some noted, a little bland. Won't make again.
Barbara VBH
I like to caramelize onions down to nothing so I had to triple the onions. I used Stilton, which melted perfectly. I used a mini-tartlet pan that made tiny pies with fluted rims. The recipe made 12 of those. Thanks to Carolyn Baker for suggesting freezing the walnuts. Mine were only on the verge of burning.
Ellen
Excellent recipe! I did as others suggested and used frozen phyllo cups to save time and cooked a little bit of rosemary with the onions. I made this about three hours ahead of time and served at room temperature at a potluck and they were a hit! Got lots of compliments.
Nancy
A hit! I divided the dough into 24 balls, slightly pat into a circle, then ran through the #1 dial of my pasta machine. They came out oval shaped and more rustic, but faster to do and did not fuss with re-working scraps. One pan had to wait 24 hrs to top and cook and that was not a problem, a make-ahead boon. I was more generous with the onion topping so would suggest another 1/2# onions - you can always use leftover caramelized onions.
susan
Give these 5 stars. Easy to make and quite inexpensive. Have received raves every time I’ve served them. The pastry is almost like shortbread.
meinmunich
Mine burned too easily. Had to scrape off the burnt parts. The caramelized onion was excellent and I can imagine that the whole combination could be very good. I will try again but really watch the oven like a hawk next time.
Cee
This is delicious! After reading comments, I tried 1 tsp dried rosemary in the dough (couldn’t taste it) and gruyere cheese cut into chunks. I think sliced gruyere would work better. Not sure that the walnuts added much, other than some crunch. Note for high altitude cooks, at 5600 ft I needed another Tbsp to make the dough come together properly (made in food processor).
Andy
Worked well with frozen phyllo cups to save a bit of time.
Amit
Used puff pastry — make sure to roll out thin; it will puff and shift ingredients! Cook rosemary towards end of onions; add torn bit of sage just before oven. Would reduce onion cooking time a slight bit to ensure proper flavor and sub Gorgonzola for Fotina or Gruyere. Delicious and devoured by the party! Chives & FDS a pre-serve must.
eleni
Delicious. that being said, do *_NOT_* do what I did, namely, use frozen prepared puff pastry and put them into mini-muffin tins. I should have known better, but the pastry puffed and pushed the onions and cheese out.I'll make these again when I know that I have time to make my own pastry. I will try the mini-muffin tins again - I like the idea of the onions+cheese in a cup.This recipe does make an over-abundance of onions but in our house, it's never a problem to use them up!
Lois
Made these for a luncheon but found the dough difficult to work with. Ended up with only 15 rounds and a whole lot of onion. Improvised with tortillas cut into 6 pieces and added the topping as specified. Tasted fine but needed to bake a few minutes less to avoid overcooking and burning the edges. Will make again using cracker, tortilla or puff pastry.
paula
Chopped up shrimp that was cooked in butter. Note from Perignon
MELE
Fantastic appetizers; the pastry rounds are impeccably crisp and melt in your mouth. My only note is that the blue cheese, while delicious, does not look particularly appealing; I use goat cheese instead, which has a nice tangy flavor and brings the caramelized onion flavor to the forefront.
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