Onion Pita Tart

Pardon the terrible picture but it really does not do justice to the subject. The refrigerator had little more than condiments and the pantry nothing but herbs and spices; there were two and a half pita, some onions, a can of anchovies and a few olives and I had to think fast before we passed out from starvation. These tarts were delightful and was oh so easy to put together.

Yesterday I made fresh pita bread and we ate it with skordalia and warmed olives for super. It was the first time I had made pita and it was much easier than I had anticipated and tasted way better than ones found in plastic bags in stores. The skordalia is adapted from a New York Times recipe, except I used pine nuts instead of walnuts, less oil and more garlic than the original calls for. It tastes like flavored mashed potatoes, nutty, garlicky and slightly tangy.

The onion tart idea came from a recipe in Sarah Woodward's The Classic Mediterrean Cookbook, but the original recipe seemed too time consuming as it calls for the sliced onions to be cooked in low heat covered for an hour. The only time I cook anything on the stove for an hour is chilli or soup and even then I always end up having a bowl before it's completely done.

ONION PITA TART
(serves 2)

• 2 pita pockets
• 2-3 onions, chopped into half moons (yellow or white onions work better as they are sweeter than red onions)
• anchovies (smoked herring, or any other sort of salted/smoked fish)
• olives, pitted
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, or to taste, chopped
• dried herbs (I used tarragon, thyme, dill, and corriander but other combination will also work)
• spices (I threw in some cumin and paprika but again, whatever you prefer)
• pepper (fresh ground black pepper and some crushed red pepper is it's on hand)
• salt
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Farenhait.

Heat oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic when hot, sautee for 1-2 minutes. Add herbs and spices, salt and pepper. Turn heat down to medium low and cook onions covered for about 10 minutes.

Onions should be soft and only browned at the edges. Arrange pitas on a baking sheet and pile onions on top. Add anchovies and olives and bake for 10-15 minutes in middle rack of oven.

DELICIOUS FACTORS:
The twiced baked pita turns crispy and provides the perfect bed for the slightly carmelized sweet onion; the tart olives and salty anchovies compliment the sweetness. That's three flavors in one bite!