Saturday, April 14, 2012

Stuffed Onions

Sense of Home Kitchen

Stuffed Onions
~Sense of Home Kitchen, inspired by, but changed considerably from, the Stuffed Onions recipe in the beautiful vegetable cookbook Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi

This dish makes an excellent side dish or a tasty appetizer.  Onions, mushrooms, sherry, and tarragon play together very well.

Serves 6

butter for greasing the dish
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 large white onions
8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, diced
2 2/3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/3 cup parsley leaves (loosely packed), minced
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Butter a 9 x 13 ovenproof dish.  Set aside.

Place the stock and sherry in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil then turn heat down to simmer.  Meanwhile, trim the top and bottom of the onions, cut them lengthwise in half and remove the skin.  Gently remove most of the inside of the onion (do not waste these, save them for another use, in another recipe), retaining 3 of the outer layers. Carefully separate the layers and place a few at a time in the simmering stock.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until just tender.  Drain and cool.  Reserve stock.

Place mushrooms, breadcrumbs, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss to mix.

Fill each onion layer generously with stuffing.  Pull the sides together and place them seam-side down, single layer, in the buttered baking dish.  Pour 1/3 cup of the reserved stock, enough to just cover the bottom of the dish, into the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes, or until onions are soft and lightly browned and the stuffing is bubbling.  Add more stock if they are dry before the end of the cooking process.  Turn broiler on high and broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until some of the onions begin to brown, as shown above.  Serve warm.


Sense of Home Kitchen / Recipes / Appetizers / Side Dishes