Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Events / Forever Nigella / Olive & onion tartlets

Olive & onion tartlets

by Jeanne Horak on March 25, 2011 17 Comments in Forever Nigella, Starters & light meals, Vegetarian

OliveOnionTartlets © J Horak-Druiff 2011

 

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.

OlivesAndOnion

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.

OlivesAndOnionCollagejpg

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 🙂

ForeverNigella_Banner_03

More deliciousness for you!

  • Spicy salmon fillets with fresh herb salsaSpicy salmon fillets with fresh herb salsa
  • Sausage and fennel risottoSausage and fennel risotto
  • The best pasta sauce in the world… ever!The best pasta sauce in the world… ever!
  • Pissaladiere – a French savourt tartPissaladiere – a French savourt tart

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Saturday Snapshots #134
Saturday Snapshots #135 »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Colleen says

    March 25, 2011 at 10:42 am

    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

    Reply
  2. Diane says

    March 25, 2011 at 11:56 am

    Jeanne–you amaze and inspire me!
    Hugs!!

    Reply
  3. Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

    March 25, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    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.

    Reply
  4. Coco Cooks says

    March 25, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    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.

    Reply
  5. Joan Nova says

    March 25, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    Beautifully expressed and obviously heartfelt.

    Reply
  6. Debbie says

    March 26, 2011 at 12:54 am

    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.

    Reply
  7. Simone says

    March 26, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    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!

    Reply
  8. bellini says

    March 26, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    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.

    Reply
  9. Firefly says

    March 28, 2011 at 7:27 am

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

    Reply
  10. Marisa says

    March 28, 2011 at 8:04 am

    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.

    Reply
  11. Kevin (Closet Cooking) says

    March 29, 2011 at 1:15 am

    These tarts are just packed with amazing flavours!

    Reply
  12. Juls @ Juls' Kitchen says

    March 30, 2011 at 10:42 am

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

    Reply
  13. Antonia says

    March 31, 2011 at 1:03 pm

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

    Reply
  14. Jamie says

    April 1, 2011 at 11:08 am

    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.

    Reply
  15. Zirkie Schroeder says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    I am so sorry to hear about your father, Jeanne – my condolences to you and your family.
    Take care!

    Reply
  16. norma says

    April 1, 2011 at 2:48 pm

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

    Reply
  17. kadirecipes says

    April 9, 2011 at 10:42 am

    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

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Bar-One sauce - a South African classic

Featured on

Also available on

The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation in t The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous installation!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
CELEBRATE. So the fireworks are over, the champag CELEBRATE.

So the fireworks are over, the champagne is finished and the leftovers are all eaten. We are one week into 2023 and I have had some time to think about what my intent is for the year. 

In 2022 my brother had a life saving kidney transplant. Since the operation, he has had a Peanuts cartoon as his WhatsApp profile pic, where Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a pier talking. Charlie says “Some day, we all die Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies: “Yes - but every other day, we will live.”

Waking up in the morning is a gift, every day, and it is so easy to forget this. The last few years have been difficult for so many people and the coming year promises its own challenges. But every day that we don’t die is a day to live, to celebrate life in some small way.

So my intention in 2023 is to celebrate. Celebrate our achievements however small. Celebrate our friends and family. Celebrate small things. Celebrate life.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2023? I would love to hear them in the comments! Wishing you all the very best for 2023 🥂
Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes fro Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes from last night with friends in Deptford. My deconstructed avocado ritz; @twinkleparkstephen ‘s bobitie; Giles’ Ottolenghi tomato salad; and Jean’s clementine trifle - and the London night sky ablaze with fireworks!  How did you spend your evening? 🥂🎇🎆
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope your day was merry and bright, filled with family, friends and love 🎄🥂. Mine was spent alone at home - my choice and the result of a combination of Covid (not mine!) and rail strikes 🤦‍♀️ but very relaxing and indulgent!
Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter y Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter you can make ahead? Look no further than my individual smoked salmon terrine! Hot smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives wrapped in cold smoked salmon in a ramekin. Still one of the most popular Christmas recipes in my blog, it looks cheffy but is soooo simple to make - and will save you time and effort on the day! Get the recipe by clicking on the link in my bio.

How is your Christmas meal prep going? Are you entertaining at home or going to friends or family? 🎄🥂🎄🥂🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT