Goats Cheese and Caramelised Onion Tartlets

This simple, elegant dish is a wonderful dinner party starter or light lunch. Pair it perfectly with a crisp salad and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, for a little taste of heaven.

Basic but good quality ingredients make the difference here so spend as much as you can afford on a decent goat's cheese and balsamic vinegar - trust me, it's worth it. I like to do individual tarts (not least because you can make a batch and save the rest for another day) but you could make one big tart if you like, just up the cooking time at each stage by 5 minutes.

Goats Cheese and Caramelised Onion Tartlets
Serves 6

oil

1 pack ready-rolled shortcrust pastry

2 large red onions, each sliced into three

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 goat’s cheese brie, halved

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6. 

Roll the pastry out so it is 0.5cm thick then line 6 tart tins (about 10cm across) with the pastry and prick the bases well with a fork. Line with parchment/baking paper then fill with rice or baking beans. Press down so that it is packed in and the pastry is pressed against the edges of the tin.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the pastry starts to brown, lift out the parchment and remove the rice/beans. Then bake for another 5 minutes or until the pastry is crisp, dried and cooked. 

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a large frying pan (you may need to use 2 pans, or do it in 2 batches) and carefully fry the onion slices, without breaking them, on each side until they start to soften, about 15 minutes in total. Add the balsamic and a good pinch of salt and pepper then take off the heat and leave to bubble together. 

Lift a slice of onion into each tart and put a slice of goat’s cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the goat’s cheese begins to bubble and brown a little. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with pepper before serving.

The tarts will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month - just heat through in the oven before serving (approx. 5 minutes from the fridge, 15 minutes from frozen).