Budget-beating stuffed baked onions
These are so satisfying to make. You simmer onions whole until they turn tender, carefully scoop out the innards, chop those up, mix them into a cheesy, bread-based stuffing, then pile this into the outer onion shells and bake until they’re deep golden and crusty on top. Yum. This is the kind of dish that comes from the Italian cucina povera tradition, where clever cooks used whatever was on hand to fashion a simple, super-tasty dish, often utilising leftovers. Called ciplolle ripieni in Italian, this particular recipe is based on a Piedmont dish for which variations abound. You could happily use hazelnuts instead of the almonds, for example. (Did you know Piedmont is famous for hazelnuts? And chocolate? And is where the ancestor of Nutella was born? We digress). Our usual plea around using bread applies here; supermarket stuff need not apply. Please find a loaf that actually goes a bit stale and has a coarse texture and actual flavour… you’ve heard us on this subject before.
When you boil onions like this, they become mild and sweet and just so delish – the acrid, sharp flavours are totally subdued. We love them and onions are good for you too – did you know they’re high in Vitamin C? Plus, all that fibre can’t go amiss, let’s face it. They’re so ubiquitous you've maybe never thought about making them the hero of a dish but we urge you to give these stuffed ones a red hot go. Somewhat forgiving, they reheat well the next day and even taste fabulous at room temperature – just fashion a simple rocket salad to go to the side.
SERVES 4-6
6 medium-large onions
olive or canola oil, for greasing
100g (about 1¾ cups, lightly packed) day-old bread crumbs
100ml milk
50g (⅓ cup) blanched almonds, roasted
3 eggs, beaten well
100g (1 cup) finely grated parmesan
large pinch ground cloves
55g (⅓ cup) currants
handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Peel the onions, leaving the root end intact. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the onions, using a saucepan lid to submerge the onions if necessary. Cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and cool slightly.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C and grease a baking dish with oil. Combine the bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl and toss to combine well.
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut about 2cm off the onion tops, reserving the tops. Using a spoon and taking care not to tear the onions, remove the inside layers from each onion, leaving the outside layer intact. Remove 3-4 more outer layers from the remaining cores to give 9-10 onion shells. Use pieces of remaining onion layers to patch any tears if needed, placing them inside the shells to cover the tears. Coarsely chop the remaining onion innards and tops; you need about 3 cups of chopped onion. Transfer the chopped onion to the bowl with the breadcrumbs.
Place the roasted almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add the almond, egg, parmesan, cloves, currants and parsley to the onion mixture, season with salt and pepper, then mix to combine well. Place the onion shells in the baking dish in a single layer, then use a spoon to fill each one with the filling, pressing the filling down gently and mounding it slightly on the top if necessary to use it all.
Bake the stuffed onions for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until deep golden and the filling is set; cover the onions with foil if they brown too quickly. Serve hot or at room temperature with salad
