Some years ago, my husband presented me with a substantial cookbook, magnificently bound and filled with photographs of vegetarian dishes that put even the most elaborate presentation to shame. By the time I found the page with the snap-pea shells stuffed with finely minced black truffles, I was laughing too hard to offer sarcastic comments. The book was placed on a high bookshelf and forgotten.
My in-laws recently spent some time traveling through Italy. My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook. As she's taken numerous cooking classes, I thought perhaps I should send the book to her as she would make better use of it than I ever did-you know, to sort of prepare for a trip by making the cuisine at home. I never sent the cookbook, and their trip has come and gone. Once I began looking at the recipes, I kept stumbling upon things I'd like to try. Keep in mind-I'm never going to be stuffing snap-pea shells with truffles, or arranging pea tendrils on a terrine of baby carrots stuffed into hollowed-out courgettes-never going to happen. Still, I have found many combinations that interest me, though I have greatly simplified the presentation. The stuffed red onion I prepared tonight was one such dish.
I used almost entirely different ingredients than the recipe called for, but the technique of blanching a red onion never would have occurred to me. The recipe that follows is really an improvisation with what I had on hand-I suggest you do the same rather than going out and purchasing specific cheeses.
You Will Need:
1 very large red onion (buy an extra in case you cut it open and it is not so nice)
½ cup dry, white bread crumbs
½ cup finely minced parsley
½ cup drained cottage cheese (or ricotta)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup manchengo cheese
Salt and pepper
1 egg
Olive oil
Remove the ends of the onion and outer peel. Carefully separate the layers. The very innermost part can be hollowed-out and served freestanding. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the onion sections about 1 minute. Drain and cool. Mix the filling (just toss it all together) adding as much olive oil as needed to have a moist filling. Place in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until soft. Cover for the last ten minutes and reduce heat to 300.
My in-laws recently spent some time traveling through Italy. My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook. As she's taken numerous cooking classes, I thought perhaps I should send the book to her as she would make better use of it than I ever did-you know, to sort of prepare for a trip by making the cuisine at home. I never sent the cookbook, and their trip has come and gone. Once I began looking at the recipes, I kept stumbling upon things I'd like to try. Keep in mind-I'm never going to be stuffing snap-pea shells with truffles, or arranging pea tendrils on a terrine of baby carrots stuffed into hollowed-out courgettes-never going to happen. Still, I have found many combinations that interest me, though I have greatly simplified the presentation. The stuffed red onion I prepared tonight was one such dish.
I used almost entirely different ingredients than the recipe called for, but the technique of blanching a red onion never would have occurred to me. The recipe that follows is really an improvisation with what I had on hand-I suggest you do the same rather than going out and purchasing specific cheeses.
You Will Need:
1 very large red onion (buy an extra in case you cut it open and it is not so nice)
½ cup dry, white bread crumbs
½ cup finely minced parsley
½ cup drained cottage cheese (or ricotta)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup manchengo cheese
Salt and pepper
1 egg
Olive oil
Remove the ends of the onion and outer peel. Carefully separate the layers. The very innermost part can be hollowed-out and served freestanding. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the onion sections about 1 minute. Drain and cool. Mix the filling (just toss it all together) adding as much olive oil as needed to have a moist filling. Place in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until soft. Cover for the last ten minutes and reduce heat to 300.
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