Salt Roasted Stuffed Onions

The Italian "Cipolla al sale" is an inspiration for this recipe. In the original recipe, whole onions are salt-roasted first. Then, their cooked inner layers are scooped out, chopped, seasoned, and mixed with béchamel for stuffing. Finally, stuffed onions are baked in salt for the second time for serving. I experimented with a few different thickening ingredients to replace béchamel — nuts (roasted and salted pistachios and Marcona almonds), egg yolk, cheese, and corn starch. Proportions for other thickeners per 1 cup of puree were the following: 1 egg yolk (large egg), or 1 oz of grated cheese, or 1 tsp of corn starch. Each of them slightly affected the taste and texture of the stuffing, and all of them were really good. They turned cooked onion puree into a delicacy comparable with foie gras — sweet onion foie gras. A very short list of down-to-earth ingredients, simple preparation, beautiful presentation — we really enjoyed it paired with a slice of fresh crusty baguette and dry French rosé.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F. Make shallow crosscuts on the top of each onion, place them in a deep baking dish roots down, and cover with salt.

Step 2

Bake in a hot oven for about 1.5 hours, turn off the heat, and leave in the closed oven for 12 hours or longer until onions and salt cool down to room temperature.

Step 3

Using a spoon, scoop onion center out of the skin and 2-3 outer layers of each cooked onion, cut off dry tops, and place the rest in a blender jar. Puree till smooth and measure with cups.

Step 4

Add 1-1.5 oz pistachio kernels per 1 cup of onion puree (more nuts, thicker puree). Season the mixture with salt and black pepper. Blend until smooth. Adjust the taste.

Step 5

Preheat oven to 350F. Fill onion cups with blended mixture, put them back into the same salt, bake for 45 minutes, turn off the heat, and leave in closed oven until serving time. Serve warm with crusty bread. This appetizer is also good cold, and it can be refrigerated until serving time.

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