Roasted Onions? Say WHAT?! I like the raised eyebrows and looks of scepticism I get when I tell people who have never tried them how nice they are. If you’ve never tried them, you really should, they are lovely. Cooked for a long period their natural sugars come out, caramelise, and they taste quite sweet with just a small amount of sharpness left to excite your taste buds!
This is not a very lengthy post, but a rather tasty one at that. I’d thought I’d add it to my recipe box because I always forget to do them when I am cooking a roast even though I always have them in the cupboard. This is also for those who’ve never tried them and especially budding cooks who are just starting out…..and learning to roast ‘stuff’ lol 🙂
So I roasted some with butter and brown sugar and some with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They both taste amazing but even though I am a butter lover I also love balsamic so tend to like those a wee bit more (which is great being that they are healthier). If you are bit worried about eating an onion in this way you may opt for the sweeter brown sugar method……just to feel safe 🙂 I also leave them in their skins as it makes a nice little roasting basket that helps hold them together and it looks nice and rustic.
INGREDIENTS
3 medium-sized onions
olive oil & balsamic vinegar or brown sugar & butter
cracked black pepper
salt
makes 6 halves
Alternatives* You may like to omit the salt and sprinkle them with garlic salt and/or also fresh or dried herbs sprinkled over are a yummy addition, ie; rosemary, oregano, majoram, thyme, chives, parsley or a mixture of any 🙂
Notes
- I place cooking foil under mine if I’m roasting them by themselves, just to save cleaning up but of course you can pop them into your oven dish with your other veggies and/or roast meat.
- You can roast as many as you like at one time but only in a single layer and also so that they are not jammed too close together so that the hot air can still circulate around them to ensure even roasting (no different then other roast vegetables).
METHOD
Place a tray in the middle of the bottom half of the oven and turn the oven to 190°C conventional oven, on bake, or if using fan bake, to 170°C.
Then lay some tinfoil on an oven tray, no need to grease it.
With a sharp little knife, slice the roots off the onions, but be careful not to cut off the whole basal plate (that’s the ‘core’ that the roots are growing out of)…..just a thin slice to remove the roots only.
Next cut them in half, right through the centre. Make sure you do cut them right through the centre of the basal plate so each half of the onion still has some, as it holds all of the layers together for you. I leave the top end (the stalk end) on also, as it also helps make a little ‘roasting basket’ for the onion layers and I also think it looks nicer 🙂
Then I remove the first layer of onion skin, the outer ‘papery’ one, just because it is often broken and/or flakey and may burn.
So, you can’t really go too wrong with these, here’s how I do mine…..
With cut side up and round skin side down, drizzle some olive oil all over them, splash a bit of balsamic around, crack some black pepper over them and then sprinkle them with a wee bit of salt…..
- Again, if you like also sprinkle with the finely chopped fresh or dried herbs and/or omit the salt and use garlic salt instead.
Roast them for 25 minutes and then using a spatula (tongs may break up the layers) turn them over and roast them for another 25 minutes or until they feel soft when pierced with a knife.
OR
Still cut side up and round skin side down, sprinkle on some brown sugar, lay on a thin knob of butter, crack some black pepper over them and sprinkle them with a wee bit of salt…..
- Again, if you like also sprinkle with the finely chopped fresh herbs or dried herbs and/or omit the salt and use garlic salt instead.
Roast them for 25 minutes and then using a spatula (tongs may break up the layers) turn them over and roast them for another 25 minutes or until they feel soft when pierced with a knife.
Aren’t they beautiful, little baskets of deliciousness!
You serve them just like this, still in their skins and as you pierce each layer with your fork it easily comes out.
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Storage – Keep covered well with cling-wrap in the fridge up to 3 days. To reheat, loosely cover in cooking foil, in a baking dish, and pop them in the oven – 190°C conventional oven, on bake or fan bake oven on170°C – for 15 minutes.
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