Onion Tarte Tatin - With or Without Cheese

Onion Tarte Tatin with Puff Pastry and Cheese

It cracks me up to see so many recipes saying French Onion Soup Tarte Tatin - I mean, when did a soup be in a tart tatin? They've completely got it upside down!
In these individual onion tarte tatins, Chèvre goat's cheese is hidden under the caramelised onions before hitting the tart's crispy puff pastry. The flavours are divine - especially with a touch of fresh rosemary and toasted walnuts sprinkled on top, almost as an afterthought.

I took inspiration for the accompanying flavours in this recipe from the classic French salade de chèvre chaud (warm goat's cheese salad). For those of you not keen on goat's cheese, however, you can replace the cheese with Comté, Emmental, gruyère, or your own favourite cheese - or omit the cheese entirely. I tried it recently with Munster cheese, following my food guide to Strasbourg, and it was so good!

Make-Ahead Tart for Entertaining

One large onion tarte tatin serves 6-8 slices. Cook it in advance on the day for no longer than 25 minutes until light golden, upturn on to a serving plate that can transfer to the oven then leave to cool. For individual (mini) versions, it's even quicker - see below.

Just re-heat in the oven for 10 minutes and it's an easy, stress-free dish that's ready to serve to your guests.

Story of the Tarte Tatin by the Tatin Sisters

According to my old 1984 edition of Larousse Gastronomique, the sweet Tarte Tatin dessert recipe of caramelised apples was first served in Paris at Maxim's giving a bow to its creators, the famous Tatin sisters.

Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin came up with this dessert quite by accident at the end of the 19th century while running their hotel/restaurant in the French Sologne region, south of Paris.
The tarte tatin story: as the apples were caramelising in sugar and butter in the oven for their tarte solognote, they either realised they’d forgotten the pastry or that they'd burned the apples, so they simply plopped the pastry on top, baked then flipped the tart upside down, et voilà.

From then on, it was served as their speciality until they retired in 1906. However, fun fact: they never called it a Tarte Tatin until Maxim's in Paris added it to their dessert menu and it became super popular.

Caramelised Onion Tatin with No Sugar

Onions are naturally sweet: they contain 10% sugar, which is good news for making an onion tart or an onion tarte tatin. So there's no need to make any caramel or add any sugar. By cooking the onions slowly first, they caramelise naturally without sugar.

If you do have a sweet tooth, add a touch of balsamic vinegar. This adds a bit of acidity and extra rich colour, although I personally feel it's not needed.

See my market produce page on onions for more.

French Onion Tarte Tatin with Goat's Cheese

As in most recipes using goat's cheese - see this walnut pasta sauce - don’t skimp on using good quality goat cheese. I like to use a couple of Crottins de Chavignol made with raw goat’s milk (lait cru). Not creamy fresh and not too dry (mouldy mature), either - just somewhere in between, which is perfect for cooking and full of flavour.

Can't find Crottin de Chavignol? No worries - use a good quality farm goat's cheese and about 6 thick slices in total for a whole onion tarte tatin. It depends on your taste.

Otherwise, replace the goat's cheese with a few slices of comté cheese (as I use in the tartlet tatins on the video) and serve with some lamb's lettuce, fresh watercress or other salad. Not keen on cheese at all? Omit the cheese entirely and the tatin will be just as good - just don't forget the walnuts!

How to Serve

Serve this onion tarte tatin with a few salad leaves (I like lamb's lettuce with it). Sprinkle them with a little olive or walnut oil and season and top with toasted walnuts.

For those not vegetarian, go the full monty with added fried bacon bits (lardons), as in a warm goat's cheese salad.

Made without the cheese, I love this on its own just as much. However, top with a few slices of black pudding (Stornoway from Scotland is best). It gives it a stunning touch of the Auld Scottish-French alliance on a plate!

What Wines Match Onion Tatin?

Fruity, sunny whites from the Languedoc and Provence go well, as do rosé wines. Ideally, serve a wine from the Loire Valley since it's the top  French region for goats cheeses (Sancerre, Quincy, Menetou-Salon, Pouilly, Reuilly...).

So serve this onion tarte tatin with chilled Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc or Cabernet Franc (the 3 white varietals from the Loire). A Chardonnay from the Jura (Côtes de Jura) is also fabulous.

The resulting sensation with the goat's cheese and caramelised onions brings out honey flavours. If you prefer red wines, a Sancerre red, or lighter fruity slightly chilled Pinot Noir from Alsace is good. Gutsy Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon) matches if you're adding black pudding or boudin noir.