Caramelized Onion Potato Tart

 

This is one of those recipes with a few humble ingredients that combined together, form an intense blast of flavor that you'll find hard to resist. How can you go wrong when caramelized onions meet potatoes and gruyere cheese? Place those on top of puff pastry and you've got a winner - whether you serve it as an appetizer (watch it disappear in a flash) or as the main part of your meal.

The hardest part of this recipe is caramelizing the onions. Actually, it's not hard. It's just time-consuming. It takes about 1/2 hour of slow cooking to achieve this golden goodness. Your house will smell divine. I always posit that realtors would be advised to tell house sellers to forget baking cookies when prospective buyers are expected - cook some onions instead. 

Use store-purchased puff pastry and you'll be done in a flash. Smear the mixture of heavy cream, seasonings and some of the gruyere cheese over the pastry.

Arrange slices of the cooked potatoes on top of the mixture.

The caramelized onions come next.

Then the gruyere and parmesan cheeses.

Bake it for 25-30 minutes and dig in. The recipe makes enough for 16 appetizer-size slices.

Or for four-five servings as a main course. A salad on the side helps complete the meal and cuts down on the richness of the tart. 

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Caramelized Onion Potato Tart

Adapted from Food And Wine magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 pound medium-size (about 4 ounces each) Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/8-inch slices (I used about a dozen small potatoes since that's all I had on hand, and they worked fine.)

• 2 tablespoons, plus 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 2 tablespoons water

• 1 frozen puff pastry sheet (from 1 [17.3-ounce] package), thawed

• All-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups), divided

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• Black pepper

• Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in lower third position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place potatoes and 2 tablespoons of the salt in a large saucepan; add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high; reduce heat to medium, and cook, undisturbed, until potatoes can be pierced using tip of a knife but are still firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.

2. Return saucepan to medium heat; add oil, and heat until shimmering. Stir in onion and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften and brown around edges, about 18 minutes. Uncover and increase heat to medium-high; stir in  water, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of saucepan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring often, until onion is browned and caramelized. Let stand until cool, about 5 minutes.
   

3. Roll puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a 14- x 12-inch rectangle. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bring up the edges all around the perimeter, about 1/2" to form a border. Prick pastry all over using a fork.

4. Stir together cream, thyme, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, and 1 cup of the Gruyère in a medium bowl until combined. Spread cheese mixture in an even layer inside scored border of pastry. Arrange potato slices in overlapping layers over cheese mixture inside border; top evenly with caramelized onions. Top with remaining 1/2 cup Gruyère and parmesan cheese.
   

5. Bake in preheated oven until pastry is puffed and deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack, and let cool 5 minutes. Garnish with black pepper and additional thyme. Slice into 16 (3 1/4- x 3-inch) pieces; serve warm or at room temperature.

Romano Beans, Potatoes and Pancetta

 

If you've never tried Romano beans, you have been missing out on one of best vegetables ever. They're sometimes hard to find, and are available for only a short time in late summer/early fall, so if you see these in your local supermarkets or farmer's market, grab a bunch.

They're common in Italian households, but not so much in the U.S., unless you come from the South, as does my friend Emily, who said they are called pole beans there. Her husband Tom curates a beautiful garden in Hopewell, NJ, growing all kinds of fabulous produce, including agretti, practically unheard of here in the U.S. but another of my favorite seasonal vegetables in Italy. He even sells to a few high end restaurants, and I am occasionally the beneficiary of some of their goodness, including this latest batch of Romano beans.

These beans were simply prepared with small white potatoes, a little pancetta, some garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Be sure to use quality ingredients since when a recipe is so simple as this, each ingredient really needs to shine.

Start out by boiling the potatoes and about ten minutes before they're done, add the beans. Cook until the beans and potatoes are soft through and through. This is not the time for crunchy beans. They need to be soft enough to smush a bit with a potato masher. Then drain everything in a colander.

Meanwhile, saute some pancetta and shallots (Tom also gave me some Belgian shallots he grew) until the pancetta has rendered its fat and the shallots are wilted. Add the garlic and let it soften too.

Add the potatoes and beans, salt and pepper, and "smush" everything together with a potato masher or a sturdy fork. Add a little more olive oil if you like (and I like).

Serve with a nice glass of wine. This was dinner for me and my husband, and was very filling, but you might like to add a salad if it's not enough for you.

Romano Beans, Potatoes and Pancetta

(For two people)

Ingredients:

about 8-10 tiny white potatoes

about 1/3 pound Romano beans

1 thick slice of pancetta (about 1/2" slice)

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely diced

1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

salt, pepper

Instructions:

Boil the potatoes in water until almost cooked through. Add the beans to the water (after de-stringing them if they are stringy) and boil until they are cooked through - about 8-10 minutes. Drain everything.

Place the pancetta in a pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Cook until the fat starts to render, then add the shallot and cook until wilted. Add the garlic and cook until wilted, then put the potatoes and beans into the pan, season with salt and pepper. Smush the potatoes and beans somewhat using a potato masher or sturdy fork. Add more olive oil and mix everything well. 

Stanley Tucci's English Roast Potatoes

I've been a big fan of Stanley Tucci since the first time I saw "Big Night," the 1996 film about two brothers opening a restaurant, in which he co-starred and co-wrote. I also looked forward every week to watching his TV series "Searching For Italy," where he traveled to a different region of Italy, explaining the local food specialties. When his memoir  "Taste" was published a couple of years ago, I devoured the stories about his upbringing, identifying with so many of the vignettes. Tucci is married to an English woman, Felicity Blunt, whom he credits with this recipe. My own British relative -- my son-in-law -- tells me that his mother makes potatoes in a similar way, although she coats them in flour before roasting in the oven. I tried making them both ways, but decided the flour coating wasn't really necessary. What I love about these potatoes is not only the taste -- they're crunchy on the outside and creamy inside -- but the fact that much of the work can be done ahead of time. First you boil the potatoes for a few minutes -- they shouldn't get fully cooked. Then drain them and give them a good shake in the pot to "rough them up."  Place the potatoes on a rack to dry for at least 15 minutes. You can do this hours ahead of time and just let them sit on the kitchen counter on the rack until you're ready to finish the potatoes. When you're ready to roast the potatoes, heat some olive oil in a baking sheet at high temperature until the oil is smoking hot.

Then dump the potatoes into the hot oil (careful not to burn yourself), lower the temperature and roast until golden brown, turning once or twice. This could take anywhere from a half hour to 60 minutes.

Turn them onto a serving platter and sprinkle with salt and if desired, some minced rosemary. These are a perfect accompaniment to steaks, chops and roasted meats.

English Roast Potatoes

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled cut into 1 1/2-2 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons salt to put into the water
• abundant boiling water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1-2 teaspoons salt to season the potatoes
• minced rosemary, to season the potatoes

Instructions

1. Add salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
2. Add the peeled potato chunks to the boiling water and lower to a simmer for 8 minutes.
3. They won’t (and shouldn’t) be fully cooked.
4. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot, shaking the pot to “rough up” the potatoes,”
5. Place the drained potatoes on a rack for at least 15 minutes to dry.
6. You can make the recipe up to this step even hours ahead of time.
7. When ready to roast, place the olive oil in a baking sheet and put into an oven that’s been preheated to 425 degrees.
8. Keep the baking sheet in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until it’s smoking hot.
9. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the potato chunks into the hot oil, being careful not to burn yourself.
10. Toss them to coat in the oil.
11. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast the potatoes for 45-60 minutes, flipping them once or twice to make sure they brown evenly.
12. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and finely minced rosemary (or parsley if that’s your preference.

3.5.3251

 

Potato Sausage Focaccia

Don’t make this recipe unless you’ve got a crowd on the way, or you’ll end up eating way too many slices of this addictive, potato sausage focaccia. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you have to loosen your belt buckle. Seriously, if you’ve never had the combination of potatoes on pizza or focaccia, you’re in for a treat.  Years ago, I posted a recipe for Jim Lahey’s potato pizza, and it’s delicious but a whole different texture – thinner and crispier.  This recipe is thicker and uses potatoes that are cooked, along with sausage and mozzarella cheese. Are you salivating yet? Well, let’s get started first by making a very shaggy dough. I start it the night before I bake it, allowing the dough to rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight until it’s more than doubled in size and looks bubbly like this:

Then I punch it down using a silicon spatula (hands are good too).

Then plop it into a buttered and oiled baking sheet. Don’t try to spread it out now or it will fight you. Let it rest for an hour or more and then come back to it. It will have spread part way all by itself. Using your fingers dipped in some olive oil, spread it out to the edges of the pan and make dimples in the dough. After an hour or more, it will rise further in the pan.

Spread some cooked potato slices, and bits of raw sausage on top, along with a drizzle of olive oil, minced rosemary and some sea salt. 

Place it in a preheated 450 degree oven for twenty minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle on some grated mozzarella. Bake it for another ten minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned on top.

It will be hard to resist, but wait a few minutes to cut into it.

Or not.

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 Potato Sausage Focaccia

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 oz. envelope dry active yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp.)
• 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water (from 105 degrees to 110 degrees)
• 2 tsp. honey
• 4-5 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt or 5 teaspoons table salt
• 6 Tbspns. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for hands
• 1 large baking potato
• 1 link of Italian sausage
• a few tablespoons minced rosemary
• kosher or coarse sea salt
• butter to grease the pan
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Whisk the 1/4 oz. envelope of yeast with the honey and 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water (temperature of water can be from 105 degrees to 110 degrees)
2. Let the yeast sit for 10 minutes or so to see if it activates in the water.
3. If it doesn’t look creamy or foamy, your yeast is dead.
4. Start adding the flour and salt, adding only 4 cups to start.
5. Add more flour if needed, but what you want is a shaggy dough, with no streaks of flour.
6. Put 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large bowl.
7. Transfer the dough to a bowl, turn to coat the dough, and cover with plastic wrap.
8. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.
9. If you’re in a hurry, let the dough rise at room temperature.
10. Meanwhile, boil the potato in water until it’s cooked nearly all the way through.
11. Don’t let it cook past that point since it might fall apart in the water.
12. it’s actually better if you slightly undercook the potato.
13. Let the potato cool, then peel and slice it thinly.
14. Generously butter a 13″ x 9″ baking sheet, for thicker focaccia, or a 18″ x 13″ rimmed baking sheet, for thinner, crispier focaccia.
15. Dump the dough into the pan and let it rise a second time before trying to stretch it out to fit the pan.
16. After it has risen another hour or two, grease your fingers with olive oil and spread the dough across to the corners of the pan, dimpling with your fingers.
17. If you want a thicker focaccia, you can let it rise another 1/2 hour to an hour.
18. Otherwise, slice the potatoes and layer them gently over the focaccia.
19. Sprinkle with salt and rosemary, and spread pieces of sausage all around.
20. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
21. Bake at 450 and check after about 20 minutes.
22. Add the grated mozzarella and bake another ten minutes or until browned on top.

3.5.3251

 

Potato Latkes

It's a conspiracy. I'll never get rid of those extra pounds from the holiday. Cookies, cakes, ice creams, chocolates, rich roasts, luscious cheeses and fish feasts were all part of our Christmas holiday eating.
Newsflash: the holidays were extended this year. Hanukkah was moved to January.

Well, not really, but we were invited to a post-Hanukkah party by friends who normally host this gathering in December. The hostess made these addictive latkes as appetizers, which we devoured -- prosecco in hand. She also prepared an intensely flavorful brisket as the main course, while the guests filled out the menu with side dishes of eggplant rollatini, roasted artichoke hearts, spinach with pine nuts and raisins, fennel gratinee and an avocado and pomegranate salad. Not full yet? Let's hope not, because dessert included an apple galette, pound cake, rugelach, fresh fruit salad and a buche de noel.

It's not really a conspiracy. It's my good fortune to be included in the festivities by these gracious hosts and to share a fabulous meal with some of the nicest people and the best cooks I know.

Still, now you know why I left early for the gym this morning.

Here is my friend's recipe for the latkes, inspired by a recipe from Gloria Kausergreen's Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

Potato Latkes

makes about 20 latkes

3 large russet potatoes, about 2.5 pounds
1 lemon
2 extra large eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 T. flour
1 large onion
sour cream
caviar (my friend used Romanoff black caviar)
vegetable oil for frying

Peel potatoes and cut in halves or thirds. Soak in a bowl of cold water mixed with a little lemon juice to keep the potatoes from discoloring.
Peel onion, cut into chunks and add to the bowl with the potatoes.
In another large bowl, beat the eggs, flour and salt with a whisk, making sure the flour is fully blended with the egg.
Using the medium grating disk of a food processor, remove some of the potatoes from the bowl and begin to grate. Do not use the fine grating disk. The potatoes should look like strings when they come out of the food processor, so that when they are fried the latkes will look lacy.
Next take some onion and grate using the same disk. Alternate grating potatoes and onions, repeating the process in several batches.
After each batch is grated, put the potatoes and onions into a colander to drain off some of the liquid.
After all the potatoes and onions are grated and in the colander, take your hand and squeeze out handfuls, draining off the liquid.
Place the drained potatoes and onions into the bowl with the egg and flour mixture. Stir with your hands until the potatoes and onions are well integrated with the egg mixture.
Using your hands, pick up a fistful of the potato and onion mixture and squeeze forcefully into a ball, draining out as much liquid as possible.
In a heavy skillet, heat the vegetable oil to high, then lower the heat to medium or medium high, as needed.
Press the latkes into a flat, oval shape and fry in the oil, pressing down with a spatula to flatten even further.
Turn over and fry on the other side, until the latkes are crispy all over. Add more oil as needed. Drain on paper towels, and serve with a dollop of sour cream and black caviar.

Gatto' di Patate

So many of my friends are good cooks, including Lilli, who originally hails from Salerno, about 30 miles south of Naples. She made the potato cake in the photo and gave it to me shortly before dinner tonight.
Boy, was I lucky to be in the right place at the right time. It's the ultimate comfort food all'Italiana. Think of mashed potatoes all dressed up and ready to show off. It's also a terrific party food too, to make ahead and bake later.
There are as many variations of this recipe as there are varieties of pizza. Some recipes call for adding bits of salami, some for ham, and some for both -- but you can omit the meat entirely if you like. You can also add provolone cheese in addition to the mozzarella, or pecorino instead of parmigiana. Like so many Italian cooks I know, Lilli keeps a lot recipes in her head, including this one. She did, however, spell out the basic ingredients, and I have approximated proportions in the recipe that follows.
The gatto' (accent on the second syllable) is a traditional Neapolitan recipe that takes its name from the French "gateau" or cake. If you make the mistake of accenting the first syllable, you've got yourself a potato cat, not a potato cake.

serves 6
2 lb. potatoes
1 egg
4 T. butter, plus more to grease the dish
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, diced
1 cup cooked ham or salami, diced
2 T. Italian parsley, chopped
pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup milk, or more as needed to keep the mixture from getting too hard
salt and pepper

bread crumbs
2 T. butter

Boil potatoes until tender and drain. Place the 4 T. butter into a bowl. Peel the potatoes and pass through a "ricer" or mash by hand directly into the bowl over the butter, so that the hot potatoes melt the butter. Cool for five minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients except the bread crumbs and the 2 T. butter. Mix it all together until blended. Grease the bottom of a pie plate or other oven-proof dish with butter and smooth the mixture into the container. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and gently press down with a fork. Dab with bits of butter. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes.