Mexican Onion Pie
Why I Love This Recipe
ou will need to locate two Mexican cheeses. In my neck of the woods, there are an increasing number of Mexican markets where you can get authentic or at least authentic-to-American ingredients like the melty chihuahua cheese and crumbly light tasting queso fresco. If you can't find those ingredients, you can use other cheeses, but I'll decline to nominate substitutes because I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll find a market that carries them.
A big part of this tart is liquid management. The tomatoes and onions both want to give up a lot of liquid. The crust is pretty good at resisting getting soaked, but keep an eye out and don't hesitate to resort to draining or paper towels to remove liquid after cutting to keep the crust in good shape.
Ingredients You'll Need
Crust:
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup masa seca
1 stick (8 tablespoons butter), very cold
1/4 cup ice water
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil for brushing
Filling:
5-6 medium yellow or white onions or a mix of the two, sliced very thin horizontally to form rings.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
teaspoon of kosher salt
2 medium jalapeños, deveined, seeded, diced small
1 28 oz. can roasted pomodoro tomatoes, drained well
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
1 cup chunky salsa of your choice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Cheese:
4 oz chihuahua cheese, shredded on the large holes of a box grater
1 oz queso fresco
Directions
Make crust:
Mix the flour, salt, and masa together with a fork.
Cut the cold butter into tiny cubes (about 32 from a single stick) and mash these into the flour with your fingertips.
Slowly add the cold water as you mix until you get a dough that hangs together.
Gather the dough into a ball and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 F
On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a round, slightly larger than a 9" pie plate.
If you mess up, don't worry about it.
Gather the dough together into a ball and roll it out again.
Transfer the crust to pie plate and trim the edges.
Patch any holes well and use a fork to poke several holes in the bottom of the crust ("docking" the crust, as it is called).
This allows steam to escape during baking and prevents getting a big bubble in the middle of the crust.
Bake for 25 minutes.
While it is baking, start the onions.
You should have sliced your onions with a mandolin or knife very very thinly into ring-bearing slices.
Heat oil in a large skillet until it is hot.
Add the onions and a pinch of salt.
Stir well to separate the rings out from the slices.
Sautee over medium heat for 10 minutes until the onions are softened, stirring occasionally to prevent the onions from burning.
Dice your well drained tomatoes and put them in a medium bowl. Add the chopped cilantro, Mexican oregano, and diced jalapeños and mix well.
Add the mix to the sauteeing onions along with the salsa and stir well.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
You'll notice a lot of liquid coming out of the tomatoes and onions.
Try to cook this off as much as possible.
When the crust is done.
Use a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the onion mix to the prebaked crust.
Distribute the mix evenly and smooth it down.
Top with the chihuaha cheese evenly.
Crumble the queso fresco on top of that.
Bake the pie for 6-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and maybe taking on a little color.
Don't burn the crust, however.
If the curst looks like its starting to turn a dark brown, remove the pie from the oven.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.
The pie holds its heat very well.
