When is a quiche not a quiche?

A few weeks ago (remember, I am clearing out some backlogged stuff here!) I had quiche on the meal plan for dinner. Not a problem, it just meant that we had to get to the grocery store to get a few ingredients. Like eggs. Then the weather decided to get interesting on us. As you may have heard, there has been a LOT of snow here in our part of the the world. And that day there was a lot of it. Keeping me from having any interest in driving to the grocery store. But I had already made my quiche crust dough the night before. What's a mom to do? Get creative, that's what!

Looking in the pantry and the fridge I discovered that I had some ingredients on hand that would go really well together. Onions, goat cheese and Jarlsberg cheese. This sounded to me like the makings of a French onion soup. Except pie/tart crust isn't generally a part of soup. And I really wanted to use the crust while it was fresh. So I made, with the help of my favorite sous chef, a "French" onion tart! Little Girl helped my cut the onions, and was very excited to be a part of the process. (Plastic knife, VERY CLOSE SUPERVISION, and specific instructions that if she used the knife in any way that didn't involve both the onion and the cutting board she would lose all of the tools!) Once sliced, the onions went into a pan with a bit of salt, balsamic vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar to caramelize. Is there anything better than the smell of sauteing onions? It just makes the whole house smell amazing...! While the onions did their thing I baked the tart shell. Once baked, the crust was spread with creamy goat cheese, then sprinkled with a layer of shredded Jarlsberg cheese. Since the onions needed a few more minutes, I put that back in the warm oven to get melty. Once the onions were ready they went on top of the cheeses, then were smothered with more Jarlsberg. Back into the oven for more melting, and dinner was ready!

I have to say, I don't think I have ever been so happy to have been missing a key ingredient! This tart was so good! It really was fairly reminiscent of a French onion soup, and it made a great meal. I am going to have to remember this one down the line. So instead of saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," I guess I have to say "When life runs you out of eggs, make an onion tart!"