Roasted Onions with Walnuts and Pancetta--Italian Style

For me, being Polish, traditionally, the Christmas Eve supper is the most important meal during the whole Christmas season. This is the day when I make and eat all my favorite Polish dishes: cabbage with dry porcini mushrooms, cooked yellow peas, clear beet soup, herrings, and pierogi with cabbage, just to name a few. But because of my kids, who are still very picky and eat only certain dishes from a long list of traditional Polish Christmas food, this feast lasts only one day.

Then, for the rest of Christmas Holidays, I prepare dishes that come from other culinary traditions, less meaty than Polish but equally delicious, and that everyone at home likes. And that to me is the way to celebrate holidays, the big part of which is to enjoy good, special food, good wine, indulging desserts, and share these special moments with family and friends.

So when my Italian friend mentioned that pearl onions cooked in vinegar are often served with roasted meat for Christmas dinners, I decided to prepare an onion dish that I found in one of many Italian cook books. It is very rich and therefore perfect for this time of the year. These roasted onions can be served just by themselves as a dish, or just as a starter, or be one of many dishes at a holiday table.

Inspired by pearl onion cooked in vinegar sauce I finished this dish with a drizzle of balsamic di Modena glaze which gave it a nice presentation and extra flavor.



Roasted Onions with Walnuts and Pancetta
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
4 large onions (but not the sweet ones),
5 tbsp olive oil,
1/2 cup lean diced pancetta,
1 cup chopped walnuts,
1 cup chicken stock,
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves,
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar of Modena glaze,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Rub whole, unpeeled onions with 3 tbsp olive oil and bake them 40 minutes.Cool.



3.Peel the onions. Cut off their tops and bottoms and cut them in halves horizontally. Remove the insides leaving about 2-3 outer layers. Chop finely the insides of onions, which will be used for the filling.
4. Place the onion halves in a oven-proof dish oiled with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
5. Heat last two tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Add pancetta and fry until brown. Stir in walnuts and chopped onion insides. Cook everything together for about 3 minutes.



6. Pour in 1/2 cup of chicken stock, add thyme leaves and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Fill the onion halves with pancetta stuffing. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of stock to the bottom of the baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly brown.
Serve warm with white Italian loaf bread or baguette.

Stuffed Onions--Why Bother?

The other day, when my sister saw me preparing this dish for my guests, she wondered who and why would bother stuffing onions. And why not, if we stuff bell peppers, or tomatoes or zucchinis, for example. The question however seemed entirely rhetoric after she tried the dish and loved it.

Although I was afraid that my onions would be too sweet, they turned out perfectly balanced in taste and texture deriving from the contrasted ingredients. They were soft, yet not mushy. Slight sweetness of the onion matched the stronger in taste filling made of goat chees and sun-dried tomatoes, while pine nuts added some crunchiness to it.

Yes, stuffing onions seems rather labor intensive as many stuffed dishes but if you prepare an easy filling and cook the onions first, the dish can be easily assembled at a later stage so that if you want to serve it to your guests, it can be baked just before they arrive. I served it with roasted lamb, but serving it with any roasted dark meats would be fine as well. It can also be served alone as a full vegetarian dish just with green salads, breads, and a glass of wine.

Stuffed Onions

Ingredients:
4 large yellow onions (regular, not the sweet ones),
1/2 cup goat cheese,
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs,
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped,
2 garlic cloves, chopped,
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme,
2 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley,
1 egg,
1/4 cup pine nuts,
3 tbsp olive oil,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Peel the onions. Boil a large pot of water with 1 tbsp of salt. Add onions and boil on a small heat for about 10 minutes. Drain them on a colander and let them cool, while preparing the filling.

2. In a medium bol mix crumbled cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, and spices until well combined.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Grease the bottom of an oven-proof dish with 2 tbsp of olive oil.
5. Cut the onions in halves, cut off the yellow ends. Take the center flesh out from each of the halves leaving about 3 outer layers of the onion to create a thick shell. Chop the remining insides and put on the bottom of the dish.
6. Fill the onion halves with stuffing and place them on an oven-proof dish.

7. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil. drizzle the onion tops with one tbsp of oil and bake them for another 25-30 minutes, until the stuffing is bubbling and dark gold.

Serve hot.