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Onion Tarte with Roasted Piperade Sauce
Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy’s Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescription
 
Onion Tarte with Roasted Piperade Sauce
(100% whole wheat, oil-salt-sugar-free)
 
Another whole wheat tarte for supper tonight, this one onion studded with tomatoes with a sweet and mildly spicy roasted Basque piperade pepper sauce, which served as a base and a glaze.  This tarte makes a perfect summery appetizer, picnic fare,  healthy snack or a light meal.
 
Prep time 3 hours for the dough; 45 minutes for the rest
Baking time 40-45 minutes            
Makes two 13” x10” tarts
 
Ingredients
 
Piperade Sauce
½ lb mini bell peppers, mixed colors, cored, halved
1 green bell pepper, cored, quartered
2-3 medium ripe tomatoes, ¼” slices 
½ cup onion, large dice
Dry white wine or vermouth or no-sodium veggie broth to deglaze pan
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon Espelette chili, ground or similarly mild Aleppo pepper or Kashmiri chili, or to taste
Grinds of black pepper
Option: 1 heaping teaspoon shiro (white) miso (1)
 
Dough
1 cup water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
 
Topping
¼ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (unseasoned) or make your own from stale or toasted artisanal bread, 
    rubbed with a fresh garlic clove
2 large sweet onions, ¼” slices
2-3 medium ripe tomatoes, ¼” slices
A few Tablespoons fresh or a few teaspoons dried herbes des Provençe (make your own mix of any 
     combo of thyme, rosemary, summer savory, oregano, tarragon, parsley, a pinch of lavender leaves or 
     blossoms) 
Several grinds of black peppercorns
 
  •  Miso is a good salt alternative that helps to lower blood pressure (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5313421/#:~:text=Miso%2C%20which%20is%20made%20from,%2C%20including%20salt%2Dsensitive%20hypertension.)
 
Equipment
Rolling pin or dowel
Rimless cookie sheet
Large rectangular pizza stone (optional but wonderful for crisping up crusts of tartes, pizzas, focacce, 
   crackers)
Offset icing spatula
 
Directions
Preheat oven t0 500°F/260°C
Roasted Piperade Sauce
Wash, core, cut the peppers and slice the tomatoes. Bake on parchment, dry roast at 400°F/205°C for 25-30 minutes or until peppers have collapsed and begun to brown on their edges. Cool. Slice peppers in ¼” slices. Quarter tomato slices.
 
In a heated stainless skillet dry sauté onion for a few minutes over medium heat until it begins to carmelize and darken the pan. Deglaze with a little wine or liquid of your choice. Add garlic and after a minute, add the roasted tomatoes and peppers. Cook on low for a minute or two more. Season with the ground chilis, black pepper and miso, if using.  Set aside.
 
Dough
  • In a medium bowl add the water and sprinkle yeast on top. Wait 10 minutes to dissolve, then stir in your flour, mixing well. Rest the dough for 15 minutes.
  • On a board, knead dough for 10 minutes, adding only enough flour as needed to prevent excessive sticking.
  • Cover bowl and allow 1 ½ -2 ½ hours for dough to double in size. 
  • Divide the dough in 2. Keep one wrapped in plastic to prevent drying as you lightly flour a board and cookie sheet lined with parchment. Add a bit of flour if your dough is sticky and gently stretch and fold a few times. Then transfer to a floured rimless cookies sheet, lined with parchment. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 14 x 12”.  Roll or fold up each side edge to create a lip to hold tarte’s contents and juices. Now it should measure around 13 x 11”.
 
Creating the Tarte
  • Spoon on the piperade, spreading a light coat over the dough (exclude the dough rim).
 
  • Sprinkle breadcrumbs lightly over the surface. This will help absorb excessive juiciness of the roasting tomatoes and onions to prevent your crust from becoming soggy.
 
  • Lay down your onion slices, overlapping slightly. As you place them, remove each onion slice’s inner rings to accommodate your tomato slices
 
  • Purée ½ cup of the remaining piperade sauce, thinning with a little water to make a smooth thin glaze. Brush piperade glaze now over the surface of the tarte but not the crust rim. 
 
  • Sprinkle on the chopped herbs and generously grind pepper on top.
 
  • Lower oven temp to 425°F/218°C.
 
  • Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cookie sheet. Apply another coat of glaze over the veggies.  If the crust is sufficiently firm on its underside, slide an offset icing spatula under to tarte to detach any stuck patches from the parchment.  But if your tarte isn’t yet firm in the center, return it on the cookie sheet for an addition 5 minutes before attempting this. Then slide the tarte directly onto the pizza stone (or if you lack a stone, tip it carefully directly on the oven rack.)  Bake for an additional 15 minutes. 
 
  • Remove the tarte to apply one more glazing coat -- this time include the crust.  Bake for a final 5 minutes or until the onions and tomatoes have begun to crisp on their edges and the crust has begun to darken in spots. Don’t overbake.
 
  • Remove from oven and brush on a final coating of glaze. Sprinkle on a few more chopped herbs.
 
  • Cool for a few minutes on a rack before cutting and serving.
 
Bon appetit!

Onion Tarte with Roasted Piperade Sauce

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