Shallot confit tart

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 1 tart, you will need:

• 1 750 g shallot
• 2 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 200 ml liquid cream
• 4 100 g Époisses
• 5 4 slices cured ham
• 6 200 g Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
• 7 salt
• 8 pepper
• Total weight: 1,470 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
33 min.	1 hour 52 min.	2 hours 25 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1: Peel 750 g shallot, rinse and slice medium thick (about 1/4 inch or 4-5 cm). A mandolin is ideal for this.
  Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
• 2: Spread the shallot slices on a baking sheet (or more than one) in a single layer. Coat them with oil using a brush, then salt lightly and pepper.
  Turn the slices over and do the same on the other side.
• 3: Put in the oven to "confit" for about 1 hour.
  Set aside.
  Turn the oven up to 430°F (220°C).
• 4: Pour 200 ml liquid cream into a small saucepan on medium heat and bring to the boil.
• 5: Add 100 g Époisses, cut into pieces, and stir until melted in. Do not add any salt, as the cheese should be salty enough, but pepper generously. Then check the seasoning.
  Set aside.
• 6: Lay 4 slices cured ham out flat on a baking sheet...
• 7: ...and grill lightly in the oven for just 3 or 4 minutes.
  Set aside.
• 8: Roll out 200 g Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée), prick all over with a pique-vite (pastry pricker) and line the tart tin or mould.
• 9: Lay the ham slices evenly across the bottom.
• 10: Pour the cream and Époisses mixture over.
• 11: Finish with a layer of shallot confit.
• 12: Bake low in the overn (better for the puff pastry) for about 40 minutes. Do watch that the pastry does not brown too much.
• 13: Serve hot or warm with a good green salad and vinaigrette (french dressing).

Remarks

You can use onions instead of shallots in this recipe, but do remember that onions have quite a sweet flavour when prepared as a confit.
If you don't have puff pastry, use shortcrust pastry instead, though the effect will be less refined.
You can also use a different cheese instead of Époisses, but try to opt for one with a similar soft past, such as Roblochon.

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