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Potato, onion and cheese tart
Serves 8 Starters and mains
For the rosemary and cheese pastry
- 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 125g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 50g freshly grated Italian hard cheese
- 1tbsp finely chopped rosemary
- 1tsp cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
For the filling
- 700g red-skinned waxy potatoes such as Roseval
- 2 onions, sliced
- 20g unsalted butter
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 300ml double cream
- 1 medium egg, 1 egg yolk
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 100g grated Gruyère
- 1 large sprig rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
Method
First, prepare the rosemary and cheese pastry. Tip the flour into a bowl and season with pinch each salt and black pepper. Add the chilled, diced butter and, using a round-bladed or palette knife, cut the butter into the flour until the pieces are half their original size. Now switch to using your hands to rub the butter into the flour. Working quickly, pick up handfuls of the flour and butter and allow it to pass across your fingertips, gently pressing and rubbing the mixture as it falls back into the bowl. Still working quickly, continue rubbing the butter into the flour until there are only very small flecks of butter remaining. Add the cheese and rosemary and mix to combine. Make a well in the middle of the ingredients, add 4tbsp ice-cold water and the vinegar and, using a palette knife, mix until the pastry starts to clump together. Gather into a neat ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 minutes.
To make the filling, parboil the unpeeled potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes until just tender. Drain, cool and thinly slice.
While the potatoes are cooking, tip the onions into a frying pan with the butter and olive oil, season and cook over a medium heat until soft and starting to caramelise at the edges. Leave to cool.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle around 40cm x 30cm, and use to line the base and sides of the baking tin. Trim the excess from the top, crimp the edges and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and place a solid baking sheet on the middle shelf to heat up. Prick the base of the pastry shell with a fork, line with foil, fill with baking beans and blind bake on the hot baking sheet for 20 minutes until golden at the edges. Remove the foil and baking beans and continue to bake for a further 3-4 minutes to dry out the base.
Whisk together the cream, egg, extra yolk and the garlic, and season well. Scatter the cooled onions over the pastry base and top with half of the grated Gruyère. Pour over the egg mixture and fan the potato slices on top, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the rosemary. Place on the hot baking sheet and bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the potatoes and filling are golden. Cool for a few moments then serve hot, warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.
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