You’re Such A Tart!

I’ve always been astounded by how the English language has so many words that have multiple meanings.  I mean, think about it for a second. (Swiped the following from a homeschooling website 😛 )

  • crane: That bird is a crane./They had to use a crane to lift the object./She had to crane her neck to see the movie.
  • date: Her favorite fruit to eat is a date./Joe took Alexandria out on a date.
  • engaged: They got engaged on March 7th./The students were very engaged in the presentation.
  • foil: Please wrap the sandwich in foil./They learned about the role of a dramatic foil in English class.
  • leaves: The children love to play in the leaves./They do not like when their father leaves for work.
  • net: What was your net gain for the year?/Crabbing is easier if you bring a net along.
  • point: The pencil has a sharp point./It is not polite to point at people.
  • right: You were right./Make a right turn at the light.
  • rose: My favorite flower is a rose./He quickly rose from his seat.
  • type: He can type over 100 words per minute./That dress is really not her type.

See what I mean? And then we won’t even get into words with similar spellings but totally different pronunciations (rough, bough, dough, cough, through and so on and so forth). I swear, it’s all enough to make ones brain bleed. It’s a wonder that our children learn to speak and read at all. 😛

One of my favorites though is the word “tart” (it can refer to food after all so of course I like it hehe). It can mean that something is sour, can mean a woman who is a bit…erhmmm… free with her affections or it can be a word referring to a certain type of baked good. Since I am not cooking a Jezebel (another word for tart and yet another that can also be used in cooking 😛 ) and while I like foods that are sour, this isn’t sour, I must be making a baked good ehh? Hmmm, now I want to make a tart tart just because I’m weird like that.

Ok, enough of an English lesson for the day. Go push your brains back into your heads and clean up the blood spills. Then go get out all the ingredients for this tart and get to cooking. I promise; you will love this. Bacon, cheese, crispy crust and the over the top yumminess of caramelized onions all combine to make this stick your face in it and inhale good. I got the original recipe from The Cooking Channel. I’ve changed it some but not a ton. I added the Swiss cheese and some extra Parmesan as well as extra bacon, a shallot and the sour cream. Ok, so maybe I changed it more than I thought now that I read that.

Bacon, Cheese & Caramelized Onion Tart

  • 1 9 to 10 inch pie crust
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 small onions, cut in half and then sliced into thin half circles
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 12 ounces bacon, cooked until crisp & crumbled
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 inch tart pan. Line the pan with the pie crust (I admit to having used the Pillsbury refrigerator crusts), making sure to press the crust into all the edges.
  2. In a medium sauce pot, melt the butter and olive oil. Add the onions and cook over medium high heat, stirring often, until they are limp and slightly softened. Add the shallots and garlic
  3. Turn the heat down to low (about 3 on an electric stove) and cook the onions until they are brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it because it can burn easily. Stir in the rosemary and thyme then set aside to cool.
  4. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients.
  5. Spread into the pie crust
  6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the tart is firm and the top is nicely browned. Let cool before slicing or it will fall apart.

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38 thoughts on “You’re Such A Tart!

  1. Ooooh, this kind of tart makes me dreamy-eyed because i evokes so many childhood memories of Alsace in France. We’d get one of these to bring on our hikes and share them for lunch. Wonderful 🙂

  2. Who are you calling a tart?!? I LOVE that word! Of course, when I think of it, I’m usually thinking of something sweet and delectable. I love your savory version of a tart. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner! It looks delicious! : )

    • Lol. I promise, it wasn’t you, Anne. You’re too sweet to be tart :-p

      Susie, same here. Give me bacon and the onions and I’m a happy woman!

  3. The tart looks like the perfect cure for the bleeding brain from English lessons-Yum! I really do think that our language may be more difficult than most and I am sure that there are several people struggling with it as I type.
    Enjoy the day!

    • Hmmm, cure for bleeding brain. Promise me you’re not going to make one then use it as a brain bleed bandage, Tina 😛

      Cool! Let me know how you like it, Jennifer.

    • Nope, no English major here Cucina… just a major language freak (many would say to omit the word language from that hehe)

      Jackie, I never thought about it but yep, Wanker is a fun one to say, isn’t it? Now I want to walk around calling everyone wankers using a British accent. Cool!

  4. I love that word! And I love the word Wanker, also double meanings 😉 but as an American I’ve really never been able to pull it off. Sigh. I’ll leave that to those with better accents! Oh, and I love you Tart.

  5. Dear Jan, I enjoyed the English lesson! It was a fun post.
    I know something else I would enjoy, the bacon, egg, onion and cheese tart!!
    Thank you for visiting my blog. You have a great blog with a lot of personality. I am following it. I hope that you will visit again soon and we will be blogging friends. Blessings, Catherine xo

    • Thanks Catherine! That was such a sweet thing to say and you can be sure I’ll be visiting your blog again!

      Baking Serendipity, I can only imagine what it is like to learn all the ins and outs of English when it isn’t ones native language. I know ours isn’t the most difficult by far, but it sure can be confusing nonetheless.

  6. I agree with you English lesson sometimes drives me crazy actually it makes my nose bleed too just joking lol…. you tart looks scrumptious and i am drooling love to taste it.

    • No nose bleeds on my blog please, Raquel :-p. You’ll get blood on the background and I’ll never be able to get it out!

      Dara, me too! Such a classic combo, isn’t it? 🙂

      Hey there Bee! Haven’t seen you here in a while. And please, let me know when you think of the tart if you try it!

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