Caramelized onions, cheese and puff pastry – need I say more.
Many years ago I had a version of this at an industry (Los Angeles slang for the film industry) cocktail party I was managing/hosting for my clients. It was one of those nights were I kept hoping that the tray would come back my way so I could analyze each bite to determine what went into it to make them so amazing.
I’ve been dreaming about them ever since, so much so that I decided to create my own version which are much larger but equally as good. These are pretty fool proof so go ahead and experiment. Add different herbs or different cheeses – the world is your oyster.
Slice up your onions. You can choose only brown ones but I chose to do a mix – I like color.
Chives, garlic and thyme for the cheese. You can skip this but I like the fresh herb flavor – one more dimension to the taste.
Parmesan cheese. I love this stuff – perfectly salty and perfectly cheesy.
The cream cheese, Parmesan, herbs and salt and pepper. Be careful on the salt, as the Parmesan is already quite salty.
Getting there.
Cut out your rounds of pastry. I cheated and purchased puff pastry – no need to make life hard on yourself.
The great thing about this is you can use proper tart molds or even the smaller muffin tins – they are incredibly versatile.
Fill each pastry shell with the cheese mixture.
Yup. Magic.
I added the caramelized onions before I baked them. I also left some plain and added the onions after – kinda a like a taste test.
I have to say that I liked them better added after baking. But, do what you want.
Umm, hello!
Yeah, that was me. I had to taste them. I have no words. Make these soon. Please.
Full recipe below.
Enjoy!
Jessica
Caramelized Onion and Cheese Tarts
2 onions
2 tblsps butter
1 tblsp olive oil
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/3 cup of sour cream
½ cups of grated parmesan cheese
1 sheet of puff pastry
3 garlic cloves
Fresh thyme
Chopped chives
Salt & Pepper
Heat oven to 375.
To caramelize the onions, heat pan on medium heat with butter and olive oil.
Chop onions and add to hot pan. Cook down until brown and soft.
For the tarts, take cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan, garlic, herbs
and salt and pepper and mix in a bowl. Cut out rounds of puff pastry with
3 7/14 (88mm) cutter and place them into a non-stick muffin tin. Fill with
cream cheese mixture. Cook at 375 for 8 – 10 minutes or until pastry is golden
brown.
Note: you can add the onions before putting them in the oven or you can
add the onions to the tarts after they come out of the oven. I recommend
adding them after.
2
Wow Jess! I made these for Karyn’s birthday dinner and they were a huge hit. Everyone was commenting on them, asking about them, and chowing down on them! =) I decided to make mini ones due to the fact that we had your bacon jam on crostinis as well as a huge fruit and cheese platter so they could be bite size and not so filling. I cut the puff pastry with a non fluted 2.5 inch biscuit cutter and put it inside a greased mini muffin pan then assembled as you directed. OMG. They were so good. I had left over filling so I saved it and put it on crackers the next day and people loved it then too. Thanks for the recipe!!!
This is absolutely delicious! I used to buy those frozen at Trader Joe’s, but this recipe is even better. One thing: these tarts are not too filling, but as an appetizer they are absolutely amazing. Thanks a lot for the recipe.
Hi Olga!
Thank you so much for trying these out! I have made these so many times since posting that recipe years ago and they NEVER disappoint. So glad you liked them.
All the best,
Jessica