This Savory Apple Tart recipe features thyme, caramelized onions and gruyere cheese. A wonderful vegetarian meal, especially when served alongside a simple green salad.
Make this easy Savory Apple Tart recipe this fall and feel like a domestic goddess!
I’m a little worried because John caught a sick bug last night. Scratchy throat, cough, sad puppy eyes, the works.
Why do guys turn into helpless babies when they’re sick? I find it kind of endearing, actually. I like making him tea and taking care of him.
But so help me if I catch what he’s got.
It can’t happen. I have the most insane schedule next week. Like Monday-Sunday, morning-night cooking jobs. No breaks, no days off. Not every week is so jam-packed, but this one is.
So…getting sick is not an option. And the thing that sucks about being self-employed is that there’s no such thing as paid sick days. If you can’t work, you don’t make money.
So I am careful and committed when it comes to staying sick-free. If someone so much as sneezes in my vicinity I’m running off to Whole Foods to pick up every immune boosting concoction in stock .
Oregano oil, echinacea, elderberry, give me all of it. This method has worked out really well so far; I haven’t been sick in years (I hope I’m not jinxing myself).
Keeping illness at bay keeps me in the kitchen so that I can keep making deliciously fancy things like this Savory Apple Tart recipe. What is it about a savory tart that makes you feel like a domestic goddess?
I totally channeled my inner Ina with this apple tart recipe. It’s got nutty gruyere, caramelized onion, a hint of Dijon, tangy green apple and it’s accented with fresh thyme.
How to make this Savory Apple Tart recipe:
Use pre-made pie dough to save time!
Of course I prefer making the dough from scratch, but let’s say it’s a weeknight and you’ve got a sick hubby laid up on the couch to tend to and you just need to get a delicious dinner on the table in a hurry.
Here’s a little shortcut to get this savory apple thyme tart on the table lickety-split: use pre-made pie dough. It will save you tons of time with equally delicious results.
Blind bake your tart shell:
Make the filling:
In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with olive oil and swirl the pan around to combine both fats. Add the sliced onions and cook until lightly browned and starting to caramelize. This should take about 8 minutes per side. Remove the pan from the heat.
Which apples are best for this tart recipe?
The best apples for baking are both sweet and tart and hold up when baked without turning to mush. Granny Smith apples are generally one of my go-tos, but here are others to keep in mind:
- Jonagold
- Honeycrisp
- Braeburn
- Golden Delicious
- Pink Lady
Tips for making this Savory Apple Tart recipe:
- No pie weights for blind baking? No problem! Use sugar instead (here’s a how-to) ! This method comes with a bonus: faintly caramelized granulated sugar – the best for baking banana bread!
- Use a wide skillet for caramelizing the onions. This gives the water room to evaporate, allowing the onions to caramelize rather than steam.
- If you feel like onions are getting too brown around the edges reduce your heat a bit.
Thanks for reading! To keep up with me in the kitchen, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. If you make this Savory Apple Tart, don’t forget to share it using the hashtag #LePetitEats!
Savory Apple Thyme Tart
This Savory Apple Thyme Tart with caramelized onion and gruyere makes a wonderful vegetarian meal, especially when served alongside a simple green salad.
Ingredients
- 1 batch store bought or home made pie dough 1 roll of store bought pie dough is enough for two individual 6 inch tarts
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion sliced into thin rings
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1 apple cored and thinly sliced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and press into two six-inch tart pans, trimming off excess. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line the dough with parchment paper and top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes more.
- Transfer tart pans to a wire rack and let cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.
Meanwhile, make the filling: In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil and swirl the pan to combine. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned and starting to caramelize, about 8 minutes per side. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, stir together the crème fraîche and mustard and spread evenly over the crust. Sprinkle with half of the cheese and the thyme. Arrange the apple slices and onions on top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake on the top oven rack until the pastry is golden and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then garnish with thyme, cut into slices and serve.
Recipe Notes
- No pie weights for blind baking? No problem! Use sugar instead (here's a how-to) ! This method comes with a bonus: faintly caramelized granulated sugar - the best for baking banana bread!
- Use a wide skillet for caramelizing the onions. This gives the water room to evaporate, allowing the onions to caramelize rather than steam.
- If you feel like onions are getting too brown around the edges reduce your heat a bit.
Products I recommend for this recipe:
I absolutely love your recipe! I am writing vegetarian recipe round ups on my blog in 2018 (to encourage people to try meatless monday- everyone has to start somewhere) and would love to feature you. You can check out my blog (for beginner environmentalists) at sunshineguerrilla.com. Is it alright if I share this link to your recipe?
Hi Barbara, feel free to share as long as you include a link back to to recipe- thanks!
Yum! Received lots of compliments!
Changes/Subs: I used homemade tart dough with thyme added; substituted mexican crema because it’s what I had on hand; used more onions; put all into one 10″ tart pan. I will definitely make again and try using creme fraiche. The crema was fine, though.
That’s wonderful and that crust sounds so amazing, I do love using a scratch dough whenever I have the time. I’ll have to try a homemade thyme dough next time!
I want to make this in a larger size, would this recipe work for a 9inch tart pan?
I would multiply the filling ingredients by 1 1/2, just to make sure you’ll have enough to fill the larger tart.
Was very tasty – the combo of apples, cheese and caramelized onions was nice. A nice fall recipe that would go well with a salad and glass of wine.
Made it as a side for Christmas dinner, and had some left over – the flavour improved with age.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Is it possible to sub heavy cream for the creme fraiche? Or sour cream?
Vanessa, I sweetened sour cream with brown sugar, and it worked very well! I did find I had to up the amount of dijon.
Amazing recipe. A real keeper!! I felt like a proper French chef serving that!
This was the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in years! Absolutely fantastic! Thank you for such a great recipe! We used apples that just came off the tree yesterday and a store bought single 8″ pie crust. I love the combination of ingredients. It was fabulous! Thank you so much!
Hi, Susan!
Did you just end up making it in an 8″ pie tin then? I’m interested in this recipe, but I don’t have any tart pans, so if you had some success with a pie tin, that would be helpful to know! Thanks!
I haven’t tried this recipe in a pie dish, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it could work. You may want to try par-baking the crust before adding the filling.
Yay! that’s amazing!
This was so amazing that I ate 1/3 of the recipe in one sitting. I just had to keep going back for more. I used a pre-tinned 9” pie shell, and Greek yogurt in place of the crème fraîche because that’s what I had on hand. However I will definitely upgrade to the crème fraîche next time.
Would these reheat well if made ahead of time? I’d love to make them for a birthday party but don’t have time to make them the morning of, thanks!
I accidentally made a full piecrust. Do you think I should double the recipe for the feeling?