1 MAPLE Bacon Onion Tarte Tatin

Here, the savoury twist on the typical apple tarte tatin sees sweet onions, thickly sliced, subbing for the quartered Granny Smiths. With a crisp puff pastry base, a sweet lick of buttery maple syrup and crisp bacon on top, let’s just say you won’t miss the apples.

⅓ cup (80 mL) unsalted butter

⅓ cup (80 mL) maple syrup

8 slices good quality sliced bacon 2 colossal sweet onions, peeled, and sliced into ½ inch (1 cm) rounds

Salt and pepper to taste

1 block (7 oz) puff pastry dough, thawed but still cold

1 tsp (5 mL) fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Using the ⅓ cup (80 mL) butter, lightly grease a heavy 9-inch (23-cm) ovenproof frying pan (I use cast iron) and then equally distribute remaining butter in small knobs around the bottom of the pan. Pour maple syrup over the butter. This will eventually turn into caramel. Lay bacon slices in, slightly shingled. 2 Fit onion slices in over bacon in an overlapping circular formation (keeping the rings of the slices intact), working your way into the centre with a spiral. Squeeze them in as tightly as you can. Season with salt and pepper.

3 Roll out puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface into a round that’s about ¼ inch (5 mm) thick (if pre-rolled, simply cut off the corners). Lay it over the onions in the pan, tucking small amounts of excess dough in around the edge. Prick through dough about 30 times with a fork.

4 Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).

5 Place pan over medium-high heat and cook until there’s very little liquid left in the pan and you begin to smell caramel, 25 to 30 minutes. 6 Transfer pan to the preheated oven and bake until pastry is browned on top and dough is cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and slide a small knife around the outer edge, making sure nothing is sticking. Cool pan on a cake rack. 7 After about a half hour, right before you’re ready to turn out your savoury tarte tatin onto a serving plate, heat the bottom of the pan over high heat for 30 to 40 seconds, jiggling it to make sure nothing is sticking. Place the large serving plate over the top of the pan, take a deep breath and flip the tarte onto the plate. Victory! (If any bacon sticks to the bottom of the pan, just peel off and artfully rearrange over onions.) Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, if desired. Cut into wedges and serve at once.

Serves 6 to 8