Carmelized onion, Pears and Feta Crostata

Holy Flavor explosion. SO good, so... AMAZING, in fact. This is a great recipe, without too many ingredients really. I imagine you COULD use a prepared pastry style dough, but I love making dough from scratch and it's much cheaper.

. If you are a fan of goat cheese feel free to use that instead of feta.

Dough:

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks COLD diced butter

3-5 TBS ice cold water

1 TBS cider vinegar

Place salt and flour in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. Then  place into a food processor (or alt by hand using a bowl and fork). Then cut the butter in forming a "crumble." Add water to just moisten and then the cider, the dough should press together by hand now. If it does turn it out on a lightly floured surface and flour your hands, press the dough together and while doing so form into a disc about an 1" thick. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 2 days.

When you are ready to make the "pie" pull dough out of fridge and plastic wrap. Beat lightly with your rolling pin to begin to flatten and warm the dough. Then roll from the center out, rotating the dough about 45* every roll. Until it is thin and 15 or so inches around. Transfer to a buttered baking sheet.

Filling:

2 large onions, sliced into half moons

1/2 stick butter

some Thyme, salt and black pepper, all to taste

1/2 cup or so feta (or 3 oz goat cheese)

1 large hardly ripe pear (I used a Bartlett) sliced VERY thin

Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet, add thyme and onions and let cook down, about an hour, stirring and adjusting heat as necessary to cook them evenly and prevent burning. They are done when they are jam like. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste

Stir in feta

Layer into your prepared dough, leaving about 2" of margin around the edges

Top with sliced pear

Brush dough with a bit of beaten egg and bake in a preheated oven at 350* for about 40 minutes. Slice and dig in!