German onion tart, or zwiebelkuchen
As if on cue, the weather turned all fallish on us over Labor Day weekend, and Mr. TravelerWrites suggested making a German onion tart–zwiebelkuchen–to share with friends who were coming for dinner.
Last time I had zwiebelkuchen, I was walking around a fall market near the Fussgaengerzone (pedestrian zone) of Mannheim in Germany a couple of years ago. The air was fittingly crisp then too. A cup of neuer wein (young wine) helped warm me as I stood in the market trying not to look piggy by scarfing the rich, caraway-tinged, slightly sweet slice of tart.
I’m a firm believer that the discovery of new foods is one of the best travel souvenirs one can bring home. In Portugal, I found porco com ameijoas a alentejana, a flavorful, rustic pork and clam stew and made it I-can’t-tell-you-how-many-times upon returning home. I even made the red pepper paste from scratch, something I wouldn’t ordinarily do; it was a good excuse to have a few quiet minutes to reminisce about the trip while I roasted and peeled the peppers.
For our zwiebelkuchen undertaking back home, we followed a recipe from Swabia, a region in the southwest near Bavaria. Other regions have their own versions of the quiche-like dish. Thankfully for our HDL, Swabians use sour cream in their onion tart instead of lard.
Although I was tempted to use sweet onions, I’m glad I didn’t–sauteing them until golden and even slightly browned lent enough sweetness. And unless you really dislike the flavor, do not–I repeat–DO NOT skip the caraway seeds the recipe calls for. Caraway isn’t my favorite flavor, but I have to acknowledge that it made the dish.
Prep time was shorter than I expected, maybe an hour total for two large tarts. Baking time was about 40 minutes. (Zwiebelkuchen would be a huge hit at Ann Arbor’s German Park if one could further streamline onion chopping and pre-make the crust.)
We served the onion tart with a salad of spring greens and gave it a Michigan spin: dried tart cherries and pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette we’d bought the week prior, while vacationing near Traverse City.
Although Swabians drink still-yeasty and lightly carbonated neuer wein with zwiebelkuchen, we opened a bottle of screw-cap Riesling from Costco for under $10 that also went really nicely. Not big on wine? Wheat beer would also go well, methinks.
The tart was good. Very, very good. (And who says leftover zwiebel-k isn’t good for breakfast–not that I would know anything about that.)
Let me know how yours turns out. Here’s the recipe we used, from two cookbooks and Mr. TravelerWrites’ experiences:
Crust
I’m sending you to Epicurious.com to follow the #2 basic flaky pie crust recipe because our crust had, er, um…some issues. It may have been the white whole wheat flour (all we had handy), or the conversion from the metric system, or….Trust me on this one and use your favorite pie or quiche crust, or go with the Epicurious version.
We used a 10″ spring-form pan. Since you’re already chopping a lot of onions, think about doubling the recipe, and the crust, and making two. (But only if you’re not having your cholesterol tested in the next few days.)
Filling
4-5 slices bacon, diced
1-2 tablespoons butter
2 lbs. onions, diced (we used 3 very large onions)
3 eggs
white pepper and salt to taste
1 heaping tablespoon caraway seeds
4 ounces sour cream
Sauté bacon. Once crispy, add onions and sauté until soft. (You can sauté the onions in the bacon fat, or drain the bacon fat, add butter to the pan and then sauté the onions.) Remove from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, combine eggs, pepper, salt, caraway and sour cream and whisk. Add mixture to the onions, and stir so the onions are evenly distributed. Pour into pie crust(s). Bake at 375° until firm and top is golden-brown, about 35-45 minutes.
Enjoy!
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Yum yum yum is all I can say! I grew up eating my grandmother’s German homemade kuchens and love them all. German cooking is the greatest!
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