Roasted Stuffed Onions

There are three roasted stuffed onion recipes I've been dying to try. This is the first and probably the most time-consuming recipe. We're talking almost three hours worth of prepping and basting and cooking. Oh, but the time is worth it. The onions come out so tender, sweet, and delicious. The recipe comes from the Food Network Kitchen, but I made a few changes to their Baked Stuffed Onions based on preferences and what I had in the kitchen.

Roasted Stuffed Onion

Ingredients:
4 large Vidalia onions
7 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sourdough breadcrumbs
3/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon dried thyme, plus 2 teaspoon thyme
kosher salt
black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut off the ends of the onions, peel skins off, and then cut them in half horizontally. Place the onions cut-side up in a baking dish. Drizzle them with 3 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of thyme over top of them, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of the baking dish, cover with tin coil, and bake for 1 hour. 

Remove the tin foil and continue to bake for another hour or until the edges brown, basting the onions with the pan juices every 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the onions to cool.

Roasted

While the onions cool, heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and saute the garlic over medium-high heat until it's a golden brown. Remove the garlic from the pan and reserve. Add the spinach to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Stirring, cook spinach until it crisps, 2-3 minutes, and remove from pan.

Adjust the oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop out the middle of each onion, leaving a 2 or 3 rings of outer layers.

Onion Bowls

Chop 1/3 cup of the onion centers. Store the remaining onion for another use. In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped onion, spinach, lemon zest, sauted garlic, eggs, cayenne pepper, breadcrumbs, 2 teaspoon thyme, and blue cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the stuffing evenly among the onion bowls. Drizzle with the last 2 tablespoon of olive oil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Stuffed Onion served with Tomato and Artichoke Chicken

Enjoy!

~Krissy