Caramelized Onion Tartlets
Think of these gluten free Caramelized Onion Tartlets like a bite sized savory pie. The almond flour crust is tender and flavorful. The caramelized onion is slightly sweet, balanced with balsamic vinegar and flavored with Herbs de Provence. Topped with melted Italian cheeses, it is an impressive appetizer that your friends and family may think you’ve taken all day to make. Fortunately, it won’t!
Easy Peasy Gluten Free Crust
This crust is easy as pie to make. Hee hee:-) Although many gluten free crusts can be difficult to shape, are sticky or bake up rock solid, this dough remains tender and can’t be overworked. Once you combine all of the ingredients, it holds together in a ball and isn’t the slightest bit sticky. Then you press it into the bottom and part way up the sides of the mini cupcake liners and bake. That’s it! So easy. You can also use this recipe in an 8 inch pie crust or a tart pan, it will cut nicely and hold together when sliced. Just be sure to keep it about twice as thick as a typical flour crust, or a little less than a quarter of an inch thick.
Sweet and Savory Filling
The flavor that comes from slowly cooking onions until they release their natural sugars and turn golden brown makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It is sooo worth the extra effort and is what makes these little bites so special. Caramelizing onions takes a little time (15-20 minutes) and a watchful eye so that they don’t burn, but are otherwise easy to make. Start by quartering your onion and slicing it thinly. Season the onions with salt and pepper once you get it into the pan. Adding the salt and slicing the onions thinly will speed up the cooking process. I use a low heat to decrease the chance of burning the onions. It makes the house smell delicious too!
Fill ’em up!
Once your crusts are pre-baked and the filling is cooked, you start assembling the tartlets. Just put a spoonful of the caramelized onion mixture into each crust. Then top with cheese and pop it back into the oven until the cheese melts into gooey deliciousness. Then you are ready to gobble them up!
Lots of Options!
I like to offer lots of options when friends and family come over since we have a lot of different food sensitivities. And kids. We usually have a lot of kids too:-) Serving a few different appetizers like these Caramelized Onion Tartlets help to keep everyone happy while waiting for the meal. Some other ideas to check out are Battered Baked Buffalo Cauliflower, Maple Glazed Bacon Wrapped Green Beans, Chickpea Fritters or Crazy Good Gluten Free Crab Cakes. All are gluten free and food allergy friendly.
Caramelized Onion Tartlets
Click Stars to Rate Recipe:Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- 1 tsp Herbs de Provence
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp water
For the filling:
- 2 cup sweet onion (quartered and thinly sliced)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 cloves fresh garlic (finely chopped)
- ½ tsp Herbs de Provence
- 2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 8 oz container shredded or grated Italian cheese blend (Parmesan, Asiago and/or Romano all work well)
Instructions
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line mini muffin tin with 20 mini cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients for the crust and stir to combine them well. Then add the oil and water. Stir to combine. It should be like moist sand and hold together when you form a ball. If it is too dry and doesn’t hold together, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it holds.
- Form 2 teaspoon sized balls of dough and gently press each into a mini cupcake liner. Press it along the bottom and up the sides about ¾ of the way. It doesn’t need to go to the top of the liner. Once all of the liners are filled, bake it for about 7 minutes. Watch it closely after 5 minutes. Take it out when it is just slightly browned and set. Set aside until the filling is ready.
For the filling:
- In a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook on a low heat, stirring often, until they are golden brown. This should take about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the garlic and continue to cook while stirring until the garlic has softened (about 1-2 minutes).
- Add the Herbs de Provence, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Stir to combine and let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then remove the onion mixture from the heat and fill each tartlet crust with a heaping teaspoon of the mixture. Top with shredded cheese.
- Return tartlets to the oven and turn the oven to high broil. Broil for 3 minutes, watching closely. If you don't like to use the broil setting, you can keep the oven at 400 degrees to heat them up, it will take about 10 minutes to melt the cheese at that setting. Don't let them stay in too long though, because the crust will continue to bake and can over bake. Once the cheese melts and turns slightly browned, they are ready to serve!
