BOSH! Cheese & onion tart tatin
Image credit - Lizzie Mayson
With over 835,000 followers on Instagram, chef duo Henry Firth and Ian Theasby are ideally placed to provide advice for Rakish Gent readers on how to make nail plant based and vegan cooking, owing to their strong social presence and Sunday Times Best Selling books. BOSH! On a Budget, released in December 2021 was their fifth publication and contains the below recipe, which they describe as “the kind of thing you’ll want to rustle up if you’re hosting a dinner party – your guests will be totally blown away by your culinary prowess”.
CHEESE & ONION TART TATIN
Serves 8 as a starter/ 4 as a main
7 mixed red and white onions (about 500–600g)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp dairy-free butter
10 sage leaves
1 tbsp sugar
2–3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
20g smoked dairy-free Cheddar
1 x 375g sheet ready- rolled dairy-free puff pastry
Salt and black pepper
To serve: Green salad
Preheat the oven to 200°C • 24cm deep ovenproof frying pan with a lid over a medium-low heat • Board or plate that will fit tightly over the pan
Cook the onions • Peel and halve the onions • Add the oil, dairy-free butter and the sage leaves to the hot pan • After a couple of minutes, pour off a little of the sage butter into a small bowl and set the crispy sage leaves aside on a sheet of kitchen paper • Add the onion halves to the pan, cut-sides down • Season generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle the sugar over the onions and drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar • Turn down the heat, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes • Finely grate the Cheddar
Build the tart • Unroll the pastry and cut it in half widthways to make fitting the pastry into the pan easier • Take the lid off the pan and scatter half the cheese over the onions • Drape the two pieces of pastry over the top to cover the onions (they will overlap in the middle) • Carefully tuck the pastry in around the onions, being careful not to burn your fingers on the side of the pan • Prick the pastry all over with a fork and brush the top with the reserved sage butter • Transfer the pan to the hot oven to bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up
Serve • Remove the pan from the oven (the handle will be hot!) • Lay the board or plate over the pan then carefully flip it over to tip out the tart • Drizzle over the remaining balsamic vinegar, reserved cheese and the fried sage leaves • Slice and serve with a simple green salad
Recipe from BOSH! on a Budget by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby (HQ, HarperCollins).