Comté, Goats Cheese and Onion Tart

Shop bought puff pasty is my latest ‘thing’ at the moment. It’s so versatile that I can’t believe I’ve only just gotten around to cooking with it. It’s dead easy to use and you can achieve great results with little effort. I’ve recently been teaching a series of basic cooking classes (must blog about that soon) and have used the pastry to make various different tarts. A recent twist to one is Comté, goat cheese and onion, with a bit of ham so I get my meat fix, but the recipe totally works without it if you’d rather not add.

Comté cheese is one of my favourites – I absolutely love the stuff. The hard, creamy, nutty, sweet cheese lends itself well to being eaten cold or hot and adds a sophisticated touch to this very simple tart.

Like Parmigiana Reggiano, it has an AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) -meaning a controlled designation of origin, and was in fact one of the first cheeses to be awarded the status in 1958. Again, like Parmigiana Reggiano you can get it in various ages: 12, 18, 24 or 36 months.

Made from unpasterised cow’s milk Comté orginates from Franche-Comté, where legendary chef, Raymond Blanc is from, but more specifically in the Massif du Jura region, which has dense forests, deep gorges and rugged terrain. Blanc loves the stuff too, which was touchingly illustrated in the nostalgic series he made called: The Very Hungry Frenchman.

Unbaked Tart

I reckon Blanc would love this tart and you would to if you give it a go. It makes for an easy, light lunch, perfect on a hot Summer’s day. Serve with a fresh green salad on the side – bon appétit!

Food I Fancy was given four different ages of Comté cheese to try and used a 24 month one in the recipe. Many thanks to Comté Cheese.

[gmc_recipe 7758]