Zwiebelkuchen (Onion Tart)

This is a wonderful fall dish, typically eaten as a side with 'young wine' (Federweissen) in wine areas in Southern Germany and Austria, sitting outdoors and taking in the last sun of the year..

• 1 kg white or yellow onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• ½ - 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup / 125ml heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup / 62 ml sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 oz bacon, diced
• 2 stalks of green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cp grated parmesan cheese (or gruyere)
  
• ½ tsp white pepper, freshly ground
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/2 fresh wholewheat pizza dough
  

Crust:

1. Flour a surface, and roll out pizza dough.
2. Grease or spray a deep dish metal baking dish.
3. Place dough into baking dish, with dough covering the sides of the dish.
   

Topping

1. In the meanwhile, heat a large heavy skillet, and chop bacon coarsely, place in hot skillet and brown. Remove bacon from skillet and reserve.
2. Peel onions, and place in freezer for 10 min. Then slice (tearless).
   
3. Add butter to the skillet and heat. Add caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Add onions and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently and making sure the onions don't brown (turn down heat if necessary).
4. Add wine, cook for another 10 minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Add bacon, and mix in. Set aside.
5. Whisk together cream, sour cream, milk, grated cheese, salt, pepper, salt, nutmeg and thyme. Add cayenne pepper. Set aside.

The Onion Cake

1. Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C
2. Top each pan with the onions, the egg-cream mixture on top and add the green onions.
3. Bake for ca. 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the egg-mixture has set.

Enjoy with a glass of chardonnay or Federweissen!

Crust from scratch!

2 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/8 cup olive oil
7/8 cup water, ice cold
a few tablespoons chopped herbs (optional)

Pour flour into bowl of standmixer. Make a small well, add the yeast, an 1/8 ts of sugar and 1 TB warm milk. Mix milk, yeast, and sugar, and wait until yeast is bubbly. Then stir together the flour, salt, yeast and herbs with the dough hook. Slowly drizzle in oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed. Mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and not too sticky.
Remove from bowl to countertop, and roll out. Fill the dough into a metal rectangular or 2 large round pizza pans. Place in oven at 50F for 45 min until the dough rises a bit. Then, continue like above with "Onion Cake".

Alternative recipe:
see here.