Zwiebelkuchen - A German Tradition (Onion Pie Recipe)
Zwiebelkuchen or onion pie is an ultra delicious dish that is a beloved fall tradition in Germany. Try this and you won't be disappointed!
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife - You could use a food processor
- A heavy, thick bottomed pan - I recommend a cast iron dutch oven
- A 10 inch, deep baking dish - Use a quiche or deep pie dish or you can use a large 10" cast iron frying pan, my preference. In Germany we mostly used either a 10" springform pan or a baking sheet, roughly equivalent to our 13x18" half sheets, which will yield a flatter pie, that would be easier for use as finger-food or for an appetizer tray.
- Fork or wire whisk
- A large bowl
- Blender with dough hook - While you can knead with your hands, a hand blender or stand mixer will make it quicker and less messy.
Ingredients
For the Pastry Shell:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g) - You can use unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour or einkorn flour.
- ¼ cup butter, softened (50g)
- 1 tsp active dry yeast (½ cube fresh yeast)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup warm milk (150 ml) use the amount given and add a little more if needed.
For the Onion Filling:
- 2½-3 lb yellow onions, diced (1250g or about 6-8 medium onions)
- ½ cup butter (100g)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 4 large eggs
- 7 fl oz heavy cream (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) (200ml)
- 2 tsp salt or to taste
- Pepper - I like to use freshly ground
- 2 Pinches of nutmeg
Topping:
- 1 cup quality bacon, diced
- 1 tbsp whole caraway seed - optional
Instructions
Prepare your pie dough
- Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar and add most of the warm milk. With a blender, outfitted with a dough hook, knead this to make a slightly firm but pliable dough. If it seems too firm, add more milk. if you don't need all the milk, just drink the rest. Yum!
- After your dough has a good consistency, add in the softened butter and keep kneading until you have a nice pliable, smooth dough, about 5 minutes or a bit longer if necessary.
- Butter or oil your dough lightly, put a cover on your bowl and place it in a warm place to rise. I put mine under the hot wood stove, but you can put it in an oven with the pilot light on, or warm your oven, turn it off and put your bowl with the dough in it.
- Let the dough double (½ hour to an hour depending on how warm it is)
In the meantime, prepare the filling
- Dice your onions. I prefer to hand chop and for that, I recommend you do this outside and it's especially helpful when its windy out. I do most of my cooking outside and never cry over onions there. It's when I chop them inside that I have a problem with burning eyes.You can also cut them into quarters and process them in your food processor.
- Melt the butter in a heavy pot. My favorite is a cast iron dutch oven. It's perfect for cooking these onions. After the butter is melted and hot, add the onions. You don't want to brown them, but saute them on a low-med heat till they are all translucent and soft. Stop just before turn color. You can add a splash of water if necessary to keep them from sticking to the pan.
- Cooking the onions is a crucial step. You'll want to get your onions right! If the onions are underdone, they will not make a good pie. Likewise, if they are overdone. So keep an eye on them and let them take their time. It can take from 10 to 20 minutes. Mine actually took 30 minutes, because it was windy out and the flame was not consistent.
- Turn off the heat and sprinkle the 2 tbsp of flour over the onions, then mix well. Set them aside to cool a little.
Line your pan with the dough
- While the onions cool, take your risen yeast dough and press it into a greased and floured baking pan or sheet. If you're using a seasoned cast iron pan, you wont need to flour it, just lightly grease with butter (I use the butter wrapper for this). Now cover with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 10 minutes, till slightly puffy, while you finish working on the filling.
- Preheat your oven to 390 ℉ before you proceed.
- Chop the bacon into small squares. Fatty bacon is the best! Set it aside. Don't cook it.
Make the custard
- Crack the eggs and drop them into a large bowl. Using a fork or wire whisk, blend them well. Add the cream and whisk till it's combined.
- Add the custard to the slightly cooled onions or the onions to the custard. Whatever works best for you. Mix to combine. Add the spices. Use salt somewhat generously. Add some pepper and the optional nutmeg if you like it and mix well.
Assemble your pie
- To proceed, make sure that your crust has become puffy, if it's not, let it rise another few minutes. Poke a few holes into the bottom with a fork, then pour the filling into the crust.
- Sprinkle the bacon over the filling evenly. It will toast and get crispy during baking and add a bit of rendered lard to your crust, giving it a nice golden color and delicious flavor.
- Sprinkle with caraway seed if you're using them. I grew up eating it with caraway seeds, and to me they are not optional. But if you don't like them, leave them out. Caraway will do two things: Add flavor and help with digestion. If you like the flavor but not the whole seeds, just grind them and sprinkle the powder over your pie.
Bake the pie at 390℉
- Place the pan into the center of the oven or on the shelf rack in your grill. A piece of aluminum foil with the shiny side down, placed on the rack below the pie, helps to keep the bottom from getting too dark.
- Bake for 45 minutes. It should be golden on top and the center should be firm when pressed. If you're making the sheet cake, check on it after 30 min. It's flatter and will be done sooner.
- Now take it out and let it cool slightly before cutting into it. It will cut cleaner and stay nice and moist if you wait.
- Cut a piece and taste it. If you've never had Zwiebelkuchen, you're in for a treat. Close your eyes and get a whiff of the scent before you put it in your mouth. It's divine. In fact, my mouth is watering just now writing about it and I just put a piece in the oven to reheat for breakfast. Yummm!
Notes
You can store this in the refrigerator for several days if you have any leftovers. It also freezes well. Or you could share some with a friend who will love you forever and probably want the recipe. So feel free to share it!
Enjoy this dish hot or cold. It makes a great cold lunch, but I prefer it heated. Don't heat it in the microwave! Horror! Use a convection oven or regular oven and just bake it for 10 minutes or so. I heat it in my grill on the shelf.
Variations:
Many recipes use a regular butter or lard pie crust. I'm sure that will taste awesome too, and if it's easier for you to make or if you don't have yeast on hand give it a try. I've got a great recipe for lard pie crust that I use for a yummie savory pie recipe that I'll share with you soon. You can sign up to get my notifications here. That crust would work really good for this pie I think.
Make this into mini tarts using a muffin tin! Then you can take it to a potluck party or serve it as an appetizer. Just roll out the dough or flatten it with your hands to be fairly thin. Use a large round cookie cutter to make little pie crusts and line the greased and floured muffin tins, fill, sprinkle with bacon and caraway seeds and bake till the top is golden and the filling is firmly set. If you have extra, make a mini pie with it.
In place of the cream in the filling, you can use one of the following for a more tangy flavor: Sourcream, creme fraiche, strained bonnyclabber, or greek yogurt.
If you like, you can make this with a sourdough leavened dough. Make the same dough, but instead of the yeast, add a half cup of active sourdough. You can use whole einkorn flour in place of the white flour. Let it rise about 4 hours after kneading, refrigerate for at least 24 hours, take it out and let it come to room temperature (so its easier to work with). Spread it in your greased pan and let it rise, covered with a cloth, for about 2 hours in a warm spot before filling. This will lend tanginess and it tastes quite good although a bit different from what I am accustomed to.
Enjoy your Zwiebelkuchen!
Well, whether you're German or not, I think you will love this onion pie. It smells amazing, tastes utterly delicious and will turn you into a foodie, just warning you! You'll get a taste of German tradition and if you pair it with a new white wine or a hard cider, you'll take part of an old ritual that is lovingly practiced each fall in my home land.