Cheesy Baked Onions Recipe
This recipe is from BBCGoodFood.com (BBCGF).
Serves 4 | Prep 10 mins | Cook 25 mins
4 large onions, peeled
75g ball light mozzarella, roughly chopped
85g cheddar, grated
2 tbsp olives, halved
50g roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
50g breadcrumbs
leaves from few thyme sprigs
(1) Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Halve each onion through the middle. Microwave in pairs for 4 mins on High until soft. Remove the middles of the onions, leaving about 3 outer layers in place, like little bowls. (BBCGF)
Heat the oven – fine. Halve each onion – uh oh – first boo boo. I halved the first one the wrong way – down from the root end rather than across ways. I was looking at it wondering how I was going to stick it together with the filling to make it look like the recipe’s picture when it dawned on me I’d screwed it up. Never mind I had a spare and did the next two the right way. (I was halving the recipe just for the two of us.) Right “microwave in pairs” – next boo boo. I missed the “pairs” bit, so microwaved my two onions for 2 minutes, assuming I should halve the cooking time along with the ingredients. This is probably wrong in a microwave anyway – who knows? When we were eating the onions later I thought the larger one was a bit harder – not hard enough to be horrible or anything – but I just thought to myself I’ll microwave these a bit longer next time! Removing the middles was easy by just jabbing them with a fork.
(2) Whizz the onion middles in a food processor until pulpy. Mix with the mozzarella, half the cheddar, the olives, peppers, garlic, crumbs and most of the thyme, then season well. Spoon the filling into the onion cases and transfer to a baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar and thyme, then roast for 15 mins until hot through and golden. (BBCGF)
I’m amazed my food processor is still going. I used to use it with my Mum about 20 years ago and I stole it from her when I left home and since it’s moved around a few times in England before coming out here to Spain. Anyway I made the breadcrumbs in it first with a crust I had lying about and then bunged in the onions. Keep an eye on the onions – they don’t need much whizzing or they’ll turn into a wet paste. I mixed the rest of the ingredients in other than the olives, which we can’t stand, and the peppers, which we didn’t have in the cupboard. Ooh and the thyme which we didn’t have either! So just the cheese and the garlic then – yes!
TASTE ON TRIAL
I liked the idea of this recipe as an unusual vegetable side dish and it didn’t disappoint. The onions were nice and squidgy and the filling blended well with the onion cases and was subtly cheesy. Even without the peppers and the cock up on the time I microwaved the onions for, they were good and we will have them again. So with peppers and me reading the recipe a bit more carefully they should be super!