Salted cheesecake with caramelized onions

For the crust

260g All-Purpose flour

2g salt

120g of margarine

50g of thinly grated cheese

50ml water

For the filling

400g Philadelphia cheese cream

3-4 pinches of salt

2 pinches of pepper

800g of red onions

5-6 branches of thyme

3 teaspoons of sugar

3 full spoons of olive oil

Procedure

Step 1: Lightly grease your pan. Then mix your flour, salt and grated cheese together and once combined, add margarine and continue mixing until a uniform yellow color is obtained (refer picture below).

Step 2: Add water to the flour mixture and knead vigorously until it forms a ball which is neither sticky nor grainy.

Tip: If it gets a bit sticky due to a humid environment, add some flour (10g each time) and if it gets a bit too grainy due to a dry environment, add some more water (10ml each time) .

Step 3: Using a rolling pin, flatten your dough (thickness of about 5-7mm) and place it in your tart pan. Use a knife to level the border by cutting the excess dough. Then prick the tart base to avoid your cheesecake to raise during baking .

Step 4: Now time to prepare the filling ! Cut half of your onions (~400g) in small cubes and the other half in circular shape like in the picture below. It might appear to be a lot but don`t worry, during cooking and caramelization, the onions will highly reduce. Actually the smaller size onions will be used in the filling and the larger circular ones will be used for the topping (decoration).

Step 5: Add 3 full spoons of olive oil, 2 pinches of pepper, 3 teaspoons of sugar and allow to cook on low to medium heat until the onions become soft and start to brownish.

Step 6: When the onions start to brownish like in the picture below, ensure that from this moment you continuously stir them because caramelization point is not far !.

Step 7: When the onions have reached a dark brown/golden color (refer picture below), stop the heat and in a separate bowl, place half of your onions (The larger/ Circular ones). Ensure that the onions do not caramelize too much because remember, they will cook further in the oven !

Step 8: Add your cheese to the remaining onions (the smaller ones) as well as 3-4 pinches of salt (you may add more or less depending on your taste) and on a very low heat, allow your cheese to melt slowly while continuously stirring.

Step 9: Once your cheese has melted, stop the heat and add 4 full branches of thyme.

Step 10: Spread your cheese on your crust evenly using your spoon or spatula

Step 11: Spread your remaining thyme leaves on your cheese filling and then distribute evenly your caramelized onions you put aside from step 7 on top of same cheese filling .