Onion Pie Basics
Jamie Oliver has put out a few versions of what you'd call an onion pie over the years. The general idea is straightforward: sweet caramelised onions wrapped in pastry, usually with some cheese or cream involved. It sits somewhere between a tart and a quiche depending on how much liquid you add. The recipe itself is simple enough that most people don't need a step-by-step to figure it out, but there are a few things that go wrong consistently, so I'll cover those. If you're looking for the exact version, Jamie's site and his cookbooks have variations. The one most people find online calls for roughly 1kg of onions (preferably something sweet like Wallington Red or Yorkshire Sweet White), butter, a shortcrust or puff pastry base, and either eggs with cream or just cheese mixed in. You caramalise the onions slowly first, then either bake them in a shell as a topping-heavy tart or fold them into an egg custard before baking. The total active time is maybe 20 minutes; the slow cook is the real time investment. I've made this probably a dozen times across different iterations. The main problem I run into is a soggy bottom. It happens because the onions release water during baking and the pastry doesn't get enough initial heat to set. My workaround is to blind-bake the pastry shell for about 15 minutes at 200°C before adding anything, then finish with the filling on top. A light brush of beaten egg white right after the pre-bake also helps seal the surface.
What actually matters in the recipe
The onion quality changes everything more than most people expect. Cheap yellow onions from the supermarket will give you a sharper, more aggressive flavour that can dominate the dish. Jamie tends to use sweeter varieties because they caramelise into something closer to jam than to raw onion. If you can't find his recommended type, Red Bartons or any long-keeping sweet onion will work fine. Don't rush the caramelisation. You're looking for a deep brown colour and a concentrated sweetness, which takes about 30 to 40 minutes over medium-low heat. Stirring every couple of minutes is enough. If the pan starts sticking, add a splash of water or stock, not more oil. Here's something most beginners miss: the amount of liquid in the filling determines whether you get a pie or a strudellike tart. With eggs and cream you get something sliceable that holds its shape. Without eggs, just onions and cheese in pastry, you get something looser that's better eaten with a fork. Jamie's version tends toward the custard side, so expect about two to three eggs per kilogram of onions, tempered with around 200ml of double cream or whole milk depending on how rich you want it.
Practical method
Line a 23 to 25cm flan tin with your pastry. Chill it for 20 minutes before blind-baking. Use dried beans or baking beads as weights. Bake the shell at 200°C for 15 minutes, remove the weights, then bake another 5 minutes until the base is dry. While that's going, cook your onions in butter and a pinch of salt until deeply coloured. Season well. Let them cool slightly before mixing with the egg and cream mixture, or the residual heat can start cooking the eggs prematurely and give you scrambled egg bits in your pie. Spread the onions into the partially baked shell, pour the custard over, and return to the oven at 180°C for about 25 to 30 minutes. The centre should still have a slight wobble when you take it out. It will firm up as it rests. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing. This is non-negotiable if you want clean cuts.
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Where this falls apart
There are honest limitations. The blind-baking step adds time and equipment you might not have. A heavy tart tin helps but isn't essential. Using a glass or ceramic dish instead of metal changes the baking dynamics entirely, and the bottom may never crisp up properly. Also, this isn't a make-ahead-for-the-freezer kind of recipe in any meaningful way. The pastry gets mushy on thawing, and the onions have already released too much moisture to begin with. If you need something you can freeze and reheat, a meat pie or a proper quiche with more structure will serve you better. The recipe works best when served the same day, ideally with a sharp salad to cut through the richness. A basic vinaigrette with mustard and cider vinegar does the job. Anything heavier on the side just compounds the issue. If you want to track down the exact recipe, Jamie Oliver's website has it under his recipes section, and it appears in a few of his books, mostly the ones focused on simple Sunday cooking. The measurements and technique are consistent across versions. Nothing controversial, nothing experimental. It's just a solid, well-executed onion tart that does exactly what it says.
