Vegan Onion Tart with Asparagus
To me, onion tart is a real, autumnal comfort food: I know the classic from southern Germany and always associate it with the winemaking season. I just need to think about it and can already smell the sweet and sour odor of Federweisser. The great thing about onions is that they are regional and always in season. So why not cook a spring interpretation of the classic? For the seasonal touch, green asparagus will join the onions while thyme and dill add a wonderfully fresh aroma to the onion tart.
In the original recipe, onions are sautéed in a frying pan before baking, but we'll just skip that step. Instead, we simply bake our vegetables conveniently directly in the oven since it's preheated anyway. For this, asparagus and onions are added to a baking dish (size doesn't matter here) which are filled about two-thirds with water. This way, the asparagus and onions will be cooked, but also roast from the top. The powdered sugar provides additional browning and a wonderful caramel flavor.
While the vegetables are cooking in the oven, you can prepare the dough, in this case a vegan curd and oil dough that doesn't even need time to rest and rise. A liquid mixture of plant-based curd, sour cream, salt, and some chickpea flour is quickly stirred together and helps to firm the filling. Feel free to adjust thyme and dill to your taste or even use other fresh or dried herbs such as herbs de Provence or rosemary.
And with that, our savory tart is almost ready: simply arrange two-thirds of the baked vegetables on the bottom of your dough base, pour over the liquid mixture, and top it with the remaining asparagus and onions. After baking it's best to let the onion tart rest for approx. 5-10 minutes which will make it easier to cut it.
Vegan Onion Tart with Asparagus
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 700 g (1.5 lbs) red onions
- 400 g (14 oz) white onions
- 1 kg (2.25 lbs) asparagus
- 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 500 g (2 cups) plant-based curd
- 150 g (0.66 cup) plant-based sour cream
- 3 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 50 g (2 oz) fresh dill
- 25 g (1 oz) fresh thyme
- salt
- pepper
For the dough:
- 250 g (2 cups) flour
- 250 g (1 cup) plant-based curd
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- flour for dusting
- vegan butter or vegetable oil for greasing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (top and bottom heat). Peel red and white onions, then cut them into slices, approx. 3 cm / 1 inches thick. Trim wooden ends of the asparagus and roughly chop the stalks. Add onions and asparagus to one or several baking dishes and fill them with up to two-thirds with water. Add confectioner's sugar and salt to the water and bake vegetables for approx. 30 minutes.
In the meantime, mix plant-based curd with plant-based sour cream and chickpea flour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
For the crust, add flour, plant-based curd, olive oil, and salt to a bowl, then knead until you get a smooth dough. Roll out dough on a floured surface until it's approx. 2-3 cm / 1 inch larger than the diameter of your baking dish. Grease your baking dish and carefully transfer the dough into the dish to cover the bottom and rim.
Remove vegetables from the oven and arrange two thirds of it on the dough, then sprinkle the greater part of the dill and thyme on top. Pour over the curd and sour cream mixture, then arrange the remaining onions, asparagus, dill, and thyme on top.
Bake onion tart at 190°C/375°F for approx. 30 minutes. Let it cool down for a few minutes before serving and cutting.
