Autumn is here! The days are getting shorter, and the leaves are turning copper and gold. It’s also the time to cook and bake feel-good food. A typical German recipe in autumn is onion pie. A crispy base topped with a juicy, creamy filling.
Like many things, I associate this pie with beautiful memories from my homeland. When I think of onion pie, I also think of warm, sunny autumn afternoons with my friends on the terrace, enjoying a delicious piece of onion pie and a glass (or rather several—haha) of Federweißer. It’s a very young, sweet wine that hasn’t finished fermenting yet. It’s closer to grape juice with a slight fizz in the mouth. But hey—I’m not a sommelier. Don’t hold me to that. But I can say this: it definitely tastes great, especially with onion pie!
German Onion Pie
perfect fall dish – crispy base with a juicy creamy filling
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine german
whisk or cuisinart
mixing bowls
Rolling Pin
Cake or quiche dish
Short pastry dough
- 225 g Flour (1 cup)
- 113 g Butter 1 block
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 pinch Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Milk or water
Filling
- 1 tbsp Butter (+1 tbso butter or oil later)
- 600 g White and red onion 21 oz
- 1-2 Garlic cloves
- 200 g bacon 7 oz
- 3 Eggs
- 300 g Sour Cream 10.5 oz
- 2-3 Scallions
- Salt
- Pepper
- Nutmeg
- Chives
- Parsley
- Thyme
- Paprika (sweet)
For the shortcrust pastry, place the flour in a bowl and add the butter, egg, salt, sugar, and milk. Knead everything into a smooth dough. Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap (or something similar) and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Tip: I first use my stand mixer to knead the dough, and at the end, I knead it again by hand. This way, I avoid the butter soften up to much and the dough sticking excessively to my warm hands.Then place the dish on the middle rack of the oven for about 40 minutes. If the onion cake starts to get too dark after 30 minutes, you can cover it with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time. Next, peel the onions and cut them into quarters, then into fine strips. Also, chop the garlic cloves (two small or one large) into small pieces. You can also press them over the pan later. Now, cut the bacon into small cubes and slice the spring onions into fine rings.
In a large pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and sauté the onions and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add the bacon cubes and fry for another 5 minutes. Then set the pan aside to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 degree Fahrenheit). While the oven is heating up, we’ll continue with the dough. Take a cake or quiche dish, grease it with a tablespoon of butter or oil, and set it aside.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to about 1 cm thick. Make sure to roll it into a round shape that is about 3-5 cm (1-2 inches) larger than your dish on all sides, so the dough will line the entire dish later. While rolling out the dough, occasionally loosen it from the work surface to sprinkle more flour underneath, preventing it from sticking. When the dough has reached the right size, place the rolling pin at one edge and carefully roll the dough onto it. This way, you can safely unroll it over your dish.
In a bowl, mix the eggs with the sour cream and season with salt, pepper, and all the other spices to your liking. Stir this mixture into the cooled onions.
Pour the mixture into the dish and spread the scallions on top.
Then place the dish on the middle rack of the oven for about 40 minutes. If the onion cake starts to get too dark after 30 minutes, you can cover it with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.355 ℉ or 180 ℃
It tastes best when served warm with a glass of Federweißer.
In fact, the onion pie is easier to cut, if it has completely cooled down beforehand. You can confidently bake it in the morning or the day before and reheat it later. Keyword autumn, backing, easy, fall, german, onion, pie
