Method

Caramelised Onions

Peel the onions and thinly slice into rings (alternatively, slice the whole onions in halves, then thinly slice into half moons).

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Sweat the onions over a low heat for about 20 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add the sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

Tart & Fillings

Thinly slice the bigger mushrooms; smaller ones, like enoki, can be trimmed at the base but left whole. In a medium-sized pan, add the knob of butter and allow to melt, then add some of the mushrooms and thyme and fry. Don’t add everything to the pan at once; overcrowding the pan will stew the mushrooms, rather than fry them. Do in batches to ensure that they are well caramelised.

For the puff pastry tartlets, unroll the dough and then slice the pastry sheet in half, vertically. Then cut across horizontally to create evenly sized squares (tip: you could also use a cookie cutter to make smaller round tarts if preferred).

Using a fork, poke holes in the middle of each pastry square, leaving a 1 cm border around the edge of each (poking holes prevents the pastry from rising in the middle). Brush the pastry squares with egg wash.

Sprinkle an equal amount of grated cheese on each tart base, then add caramelised onions and mushrooms to each one, ensuring that you leave the 1cm border around each edge.

Place into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.

To Serve

Season with a crack of salt and black pepper and garnish with fresh thyme and micro herbs (optional).