baked brie with balsamic red onions
Despite my deep affection for cheese, to the point that one of my favorite things to do on a New York City weekend is to dip into Murray’s and treat us to something crumbly or aged or rich and runny, I don’t love cheese plates. It feels really good to get this off my chest. At first, it was just a budget issue; I still feel the sticker shock from the first time I tried to put together one of those cute boards with five or six different wedges on them, plus the crackers, breads, pickles, dried fruit, toasted almonds, olives, cured meats, and all of the other minimum requirements of our latter-day horns of plenty. But I was also put off by the waste. Even though so much went unfinished, the leftovers were unsalvageable, as fingers, forks, knives, and crumbs got into everything (a particularly shuddering thought in the age of Covid). Instead, when people come over, or what I remember of it, I prefer to focus on one or two decadent, attention-grabbing things and nothing grabs attention on a cold winter day like warm, runny cheese.
Baked brie was all the entertaining rage in the 1970s and 80s. Nothing was more glamorous but accessible, an imported cheese that everyone knew and could pronounce. But as Americans got more sophisticated about imported cheese — manchego! Humboldt Fog! — in a crushing fall from grace, brie became the opposite of chic. And this is where my interest piqued — dated and unhip, you say? Where can I sign up?
Thus, this is baked brie, my way. First, I use my easy galette dough for a flaky pastry that tastes a million times better than most frozen puffed pastry and requires no extra grocery store trip. I’ve never been a fan of the sweet compotes and fruity jams usually paired with brie, but I love a thin layer sweet-sour jammy red onions under and over the cheese — here, softened in butter, then wilted down further with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. A paper-thin slick of smooth Dijon mustard offsets the sweetness, a sprinkling of thyme gives it an herbal element, a scattering of sesame seeds on top adds a little extra crackle, or you can skip all three and it’s still delicious. Brie — and yes, even commercial, grocery store brie works well here — is attainably-priced and even the basic stuff warms up beautifully, so no need to splurge here. Plus, it often comes in 8-ounce rounds, absolutely perfect for our tiny, at-home New Years celebrations this week to send 2020 packing.
Baked Brie with Balsamic Red Onions
- SERVINGS: 2, GENEROUSLY, TO 4, AMONG OTHER SNACKS
No need to remove the brie rind before baking; it’s fully edible and helps the cheese to hold its shape over the baking time.
PASTRY
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons total; 85 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (55 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
BALSAMIC ONIONS
2 small or 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons brown sugar, light or dark
1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
ASSEMBLY
2 teaspoons smooth Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves (optional)
1 (8.5-ounce or 250-gram) wheel of brie
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
Sesame seeds, ideally toasted (optional)
Make the pastry: Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Sprinkle butter over dough and using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work it into the flour until the butter resembles small peas. Sprinkle sour cream and 2 tablespoons of the water over mixture and stir/mash it together to combine; it should form large clumps; add last 1 tablespoon water if it does not. Bring it together into a single mass and transfer dough to a medium square of parchment paper, patting it into a flatter packet, and wrap it tightly. Chill the dough until firm, 1 to 2 hours in the fridge. You can hasten the firming process along in the freezer, where it will firm up in about 20 minutes. Dough will keep in fridge for 5 days.
Make the balsamic red onions: Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Once melted, cook the onions, stirring, until softened and beginning to lightly brown at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, balsamic, and pepper and cook, stirring, until balsamic reduces to a dark, jammy puddle, about 3 to 5 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
To assemble: Heat oven 400°F. Unwrap your chilled dough and reuse the parchment, if you can, to line a small baking sheet. Or, line one with a fresh sheet. Flour your counter and the top of the dough and roll into a large, thin circle, about 10 inches. Check for size by placing your brie in the middle and seeing if you have enough dough cover it across the top. No need to make a perfect circle.
Once dough is correct size, thinly spread first teaspoon of dijon in the middle, scatter half of your red onions over the dijon, and sprinkle them with half the thyme, if using. Place brie on top. Thinly spread remaining Dijon on top of brie, followed by remaining onions and thyme. Bring sides of dough up to wrap brie, making little folds to help it fit. Press edges together gently at the top.
Transfer pastry-wrapped brie to baking sheet. Brush sides, pleats, and top of pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using.
Bake: for 30 minutes, or until golden brown all over, rotating the tray if needed for even color. If you can bear it, let rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Serve: Transfer brie to a plate with a rim (it will be runny when you cut into it) and serve with crackers or baguette slices.