Caramelised onion, Gruyère and tomato tart

Ingredients:

• 1.4kg white onions (4 huge ones or more smaller ones)
• olive oil
• 0.25 teaspoon salt
• 320g store-bought Sheet Puff Pastry
• 170g Gruyère cheese

• 400g cherry tomatoes
• 0.25 teaspoon salt
• 10 twists of black pepper

• green beans

Methods:

• First, caramelise the onions - that will take a while, maybe more than an hour. Slice all the onions pole to pole into thin strips. Preheat a large frying pan, coat it with a generous amount of olive oil. Place all the onions into the pan, sprinkle them with salt and don’t disturb them until they start to brown on the bottom. Then mix and again don’t disturb them until they start to brown on the bottom. Repeat several more times. Once the onions are all cooked, continue cooking them on low heat to caramelise them. That can be done in the same frying pan or in a Dutch oven (without a lid). The more time you give them, the more awesome they’ll be. If unsure, consult Helen Rennie.
• For the tart you’ll need room temperature caramelised onions - you could cool them by spreading them on a cold plate.
• Half cherry tomatoes through the equator. Half enough of them to cover the whole area of your tart pan (mine is about 25cm in diameter, 400g of cherry tomatoes does the job). Mix them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and black pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Grate the cheese.
• Grease the tart pan and cover it with the sheet of puff pastry. Trim the overhangs.
• Cover the bottom of the tart with the onions (you should have about 350g of them, more or less will work equally well), then cheese, then cut-side up tomatoes.
• Bake for about 30min until the pastry sides look golden, the cheese is melted and the tomatoes look roasted. I usually turn on the broiler after the first 20min.
• Meanwhile, blanch some green beans in salty water to serve with the tart.

Inspired by: Helen Rennie