Olive & onion tartlets

Bittersweet.  I think that's probably the first oxymoron I learnt at school and I remember thinking that the name oxymoron was entirely apt.  What kind of moron would describe something as both bitter and sweet at the same time (ah, the logic of the teenager!).  It's only later in life that you begin to understand exactly what the word means.

The sweetness of a love affair mingled inextricably with the bitterness of its ending.  The excitement of a new house mingled with the sadness of leaving behind the happy times in the old one. The joy of a celebration tinged with the sadness of somebody's absence.

  

 

As some of you already know, I am currently at home in South Africa following the sudden death of my father a week ago.  It is wonderful to have an unexpected two weeks at home in the warm weather, surrounded by the love of my oldest friends and family.  At the same time, I am weighed down by sadness.  Sadness that I will never hear my father's familiar voice again; and that the house where I grew up now seems like an empty shell, with the last of its old familiar inhabitants now gone. 

But somehow I still canot think of bittersweet as a negative term.  It is as if the bitterness both balances and enhances the sweetness. The sadness I feel at the loss of my father serves to highlight how much I love the other important people in my life. Suddenly I hug my nephews closer and more often; I tell my friends and husband how much they mean to me; I try to appreciate what a blessing it is to be surrounded by all these wonderful people.  I'm not one of those doom-mongers who believes that there can be no sweetness without bitterness, but I do believe pretty fervently that there is no bitterness in life without an edge of sweetness.

These olive and onion tartlets by Nigella that I recently made illustrate perfectly the bittersweet paradox.  The bitter edge of the olives makes the perfect foil for the sweet, sweet onions and the tart really would not succeed if you removed one of them: it's the contrast that makes it work.  The secret lies in long, slow cooking of the onions; flavourful olives; and the most buttery pastry you can muster.  Although Nigella's original recipe features tarts with lids, I prefer open tarts, hence the modification.

 

NIGELLA'S OLIVE & ONION TARTLETS (serves 6)

Ingredients:

Enough short crust pastry to fill 6 small fluted tart tins (one readly rolled 375g sheet is plenty)
6 medium to large onions, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
2 tso dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt 
3 tsp sugar
30 pitted black olives, halved (I used semi-dried olives)
2oz Parmesan cheese, shaved

Method:

Roll out the pastry and line 6 loose-bottomed fluted tart tins.  Place the lined tins in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until the mixture foams; add the onions, bay leavf, oregano, sugar and salt. Turn the onions once or twice and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Turn up the heat to medium and cook for another ten minutes, stirring often, until the onions are golden brown.  Remove from heat, discard the bay leaf, mix in the halved olives and set aside.

Preheat oven to 180C. Remove the tart tins from the fridge and blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove beans and cook for a further 5 minutes.

While tart cases are still hot, fill them with the onion  mix and top with the cheese.  Bake for a further 15 minutes, until the cheese bubbles and becomes golden brown. Serve with a mixed leaf salad and a dry white wine.

I am submitting this as my entry into Forever Nigella, the event run by my good friend Sarah.  The theme for Forever Nigella #3 is Ciao Italia and I figured that the olives made these italian enough to qualify :)

 

Comments

[Colleen]

Such a poignant post this with a perfect recipe to accompany it. I can so identify with the bittersweet emotions you are experiencing and so I empathize....happy birthday for yesterday sweet girl. So glad you had a lovely dinner out with friends. Those prawns sound amazing. Love you always xx

[Diane]

Jeanne--you amaze and inspire me!
Hugs!!

[Sarah, Maison Cupcake]

I'm amazed you manage to blog so eloquently at a time like this - it proves how much your blog is a part of you. Love and hugs to you and your family at this time.

I love the tart by the way, I've not seen this one before but will go and look up.

[Coco Cooks]

Glad you made it to SA safely. Yes it is an odd word that means more to us as we evolve in our lives. Food is a wonderful comfort and I so wish I could have a tart right now. I love the flavors of caramelized onions and black olives. Hope your birthday brought you some happy moments.

[Joan Nova]

Beautifully expressed and obviously heartfelt.

[Debbie]

Love Nigella:) I really wanted to let you know that the picture of your father is amazing. What character What steadfastness. What a gorgeous man. My sympathies for your loss.

[Simone]

I am impressed how you still find the time to blog while coping with the passing of your father. And there is little that is better for comfort then these beautiful tartlets!

[bellini]

I am saddened by the loss of your beloved dad Jeanne. At a time like this we appreciate every moment, every caress, every friend and all of the wonderful times together.

[Firefly]

Looks very nice, but not for me. I'm not an olive fan

[Marisa]

Ah Jeanne, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad! My thoughts & prayers are with you and your family. I am glad that you are able to at least see a small silver lining through all of this - family is really the most important thing.

[Kevin (Closet Cooking)]

These tarts are just packed with amazing flavours!

[Juls @ Juls' Kitchen]

There's poetry here, Jeanne, high poetry. Love it.
Sending hugs and love from Italy

[Antonia]

Lovely post. Those tarts look wonderful too - salty olives and sweet onions, what a great combination.

[Jamie]

Isn't it funny, my word sister, that the subject of the post I wrote following my brother's death was "bittersweet"? How I understand. Your lovely words touch me. We do look at life much differently and begin to understand why people say that we need to slow down and learn to appreciate everyone around us. Salty and sweet, onions and olives in these luscious little tarts say it all.

[Zirkie Schroeder]

I am so sorry to hear about your father, Jeanne - my condolences to you and your family.

Take care!

[norma]

This is on of my favorites and I make it all the time for my guests.

Have you in my prayers.

[kadirecipes]

Hum looks very nice. But for me olive is used only for the oil. It just that don't like it.
But anyway this is a great recipe.
Thank you