Name: Beer and onion tarte tatin with goat’s curd
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: Serves 4 as a starter
Ingredients: 100g caster sugar; 50g unsalted butter; 200ml stout; 20g black treacle; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 500g round shallots, peeled and halved through the root; 320g all-butter puff pastry; a small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; 250g goat's curd

100g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
200ml stout
20g black treacle
1 tbsp vegetable oil
500g round shallots
peeled and halved through the root
320g all-butter puff pastry
a small handful flat-leaf parsley
finely chopped
250g goat's curd

Method

step 1
Gently heat the sugar in a deep frying pan, swirling the pan until the sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat slightly and cook until the caramel is the colour of a rusty penny. Carefully add the butter and swirl until dissolved, then add the stout and treacle, stir to dissolve and reduce until syrupy. Cool.
step 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a 23cm ovenproof frying pan, add the shallots, cut-side down, and cook until deeply caramelised. Scoop out and cool.
step 3
Pour the caramel into the ovenproof frying pan, then put all of the shallots back inside in an even layer, cut-side down. Unroll the puff pastry sheet, roughly cut to a circle the size of the frying pan, and drape over the shallots, tucking it in around the edges, then prick all over with a fork. Chill.
step 4
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Let it stand for 5 minutes before putting a plate over the tart and carefully inverting. Scatter with the parsley and serve with goat’s curd.