Little cheesy onion tarts

I can’t tell which magazine I ripped this out of any more – I’ve had it for years and it always gets dusted off for special occasions. They are lovely warm or cold and perfect with a drink or two.

They make a great starter or lunch with a big green salad and I guess you could always make one big one rather than lots of little ones for a main.

I always used shop bought shortcrust pastry – but if you want to make your own, here’s Delia.

Start by chopping about a pound of onions. Start frying them in a wide pan with a lid in little melted butter and a good pinch of salt. Cook with the lid on for half and hour, then a further half an hour with the lid off until they have absorbed all the liquid and are sweet and golden.

Beat together one whole egg and the yolk of a second and to that mixture add 150ml of  double cream. Season and add a good grating of nutmeg.

Preheat the oven to 190 degC. Cut out the pastry to fill a mince pie tray tin – there should be enough to make about 18.

Mix the egg/cream into the onions and divide this between the pastry cases. Sprinkle each one with grated gruyere, strong cheddar or parmesan. Or all three.

Bake them for 25 minutes until they’re all puffed up and golden brown. Get them out and let them cool on a rack before serving. They reheat well in about 10 mins in a hot oven and are good to freeze too.