Onion, Black Olive & Thyme Tart
The last few days of winter are with us and I am craving a savory tart brimming with olives and onions. I have a massive sweet tooth but when I want savory and salty I need to have it right away. My husband, the Francophile, remembers eating these types of tarts while living in Paris and he was overjoyed when he saw me making them. Reading through a Living Without issue I found a sweet tart recipe that I made savory instead, and it worked great.
I initially imagined sweet onions but then I realized that a milder onion, such as a white one, may be better to combine with the thyme and black olives. If you choose to add shallots as garnish you will find that the taste will be pungent but not nearly as strong as it would be with yellow onions. It’s a good balance.
When you cut the dough you can easily use a fork, which works almost as well as a pastry cutter. I happened to have a forgotten pastry cutter at the bottom of the drawer. Nice surprise. It’s one of those events where I imagine a kitchen gadget and picture it with such close familiarity that the thing is probably sitting in my house somewhere rather than at Williams Sonoma. Saving money all the time! 
Make sure you spread some flour on your countertop or dough mat before you roll out the crusts. It can be a sticky proposition if not.
The smell of thyme carried all around me as I rolled. I couldn’t wait until the tarts were baking to see how much more fragrant it could all get.
Don’t be shy piling on the filling.
If you are like my husband and do not like a thick border crust (he always leaves it for me to eat), don’t fold the edges and just leave a flat dough. Spread the filling further out from the middle to cover the crust more evenly.
Definition of savory: “pungently flavorful without sweetness.” So much flavor! John was in heaven.
- ¾ cup brown rice flour
- ¾ cup sorghum flour
- ½ cup tapioca starch/flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 9 tablespoons coconut oil or dairy free shortening chilled no more than 5 minutes
- ⅛ cup thyme
- 6-8 tablespoons cold water, as needed
- 1 medium white onion thinly sliced
- ¾ cup black olives pitted and sliced
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened soy or coconut yogurt
- 2 teaspoons olive oil plus more to drizzle
- 3 garlic cloves pressed
- 2 teaspoons chopped shallots for garnish (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper
- Combine flours, xanthan gum and salt
- Add coconut oil or shortening in wide chunks on top of flour mixture
- Cut coconut oil or shortening into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork
- When mixture is crumbly add 4 tablespoons of cold water
- Add thyme
- Continue to cut ingredients and add additional tablespoons of water as needed until a dough forms
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing filling
- In a separate bowl mix onions, olives, thyme, yogurt, olive oil, pressed garlic and salt and pepper
- Lightly flour countertop or dough mat
- Take dough from refrigerator and separate into two equal-sized disks
- Roll each disk with a rolling pin until you have thin round layers about 10 inches in diameter
- Gently lift crusts with a spatula and place on baking sheet
- Spoon equal parts of filling in the center of each crust
- With your hands fold over the edges of the tart to form a border
- Bake 35-40 minutes until crust and onions are browned
- Let cool for 5 minutes
- Top with chopped shallots and a sprig of thyme (optional)
- Drizzle with olive oil and serve
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what a gorgeous tart! i love the ingredients and that it’s gluten-free, too!
Hi Caitlin, thanks for your comment! By the way, I love your chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake recipe. I will have to make it this spring!
This tart looks outstanding! And I’ve got to try this recipe for gluten-free dough — it looks really crusty and wonderful 🙂
Hi Emily, thanks for visiting my site. You can even save any leftover tart until the next day, heat it up in the oven and it will continue to be crusty and crispy!
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My hubby can’t have any oil/butter/dairy/etc
Any suggestions as to what it sub for the coconut oil? Or if I could leave it out?