The story for these Stuffed Onions starts WAAAAAAYYYY back to my first Pieathalon in 2015. My pie was a Belgian Onion Pie chosen for me by the wonderful S.S. from A Book Of Cookrye. If you are ever in need of a chuckle, giggle or even a downright belly laugh, you must check this blog out. S.S. has a wit drier than the Sahara. You know, I try really hard to be funny. I feel with S.S. that it is just effortless. A Book of Cookrye is always just so, so good!
Below the recipe for the Belgian Onion Pie that S.S sent me there was a picture of some little balls of delight (STOP IT. NOW! ) which I mistakenly took for a picture of the finished Belgian Onion Pies. I assumed that the recipe was going to be some wacky Belgian reverso situation where the onion was the “pastry” and the filling was…I have no idea…crumbly pastry?
Sadly this was not the case. But I hold out hope for the Belgians They invented Smurfs, they can invent a reverso onion pie if they really put their mind to it…maybe after Brexit is over they’ll have some time on their hands for pie shenanigans.
Anyhow, after probably eye-rolling and face-palming at my inability to understand the difference between a PIE and a STUFFED VEGETABLE, S.S then v kindly sent me the recipe for the stuffed onions. Which I promptly printed and lost. Then about six months later I found it again and made them. They were….flawed but had potential. I started thinking about how to improve the recipe. After a while I made them again. And again. Then, earlier this year I was getting ready to post the improved version when my laptop died and I lost all my photos and my improvement notes.
However, cursed as this recipe may be, it was also like a ghost haunting me. So, recently, despite history indicating that the Stuffed Onions post would never see the light o’ day, I made them again. With what I could remember of the improvements.
And they were fabby! So tasty!
I am still waiting for the world to implode when I post this though…
Let’s have a look at the original recipe and then have a chat about how I changed it.
- Sausage meat is almost invariably going to have a high fat content. Adding cream to something that is already fatty made the mixture far too greasy. Believe me, your mouth will be coated in it and it almost feels like your whole face is smothered in a layer of grease. Mrs Dan Sartor may have been a fan of the feeling like she had been dragged backwards through a pork chop but I do not. So the cream is gone. As is the butter.
- The wine does not have to be white. I used a beef sausage and felt a red was a better match for the robust onion and beef flavours.
- Next…I don’t really understand inches but Google tells me that a 1/4 inch is 6mm which I feel is too much onion. I took mine back to 2- 3 layers of onion. Which is more than enough.
- Depending on what kind of sausages you have you can also add in flavourings like chilli, garlic, a teaspoon of tomato paste, or even a couple of finely chopped mushrooms (Sorry Jenny) to the mix.
- Finally save some of those breadcrumbs for a little sprinkle of the top to add a little bit of crunch. If you happen to have some dukkah to add to that sprinkle so much the better!
- I served mine on a toasted piece of baguette. The main ingredients – sausage, onion, bread are reminiscent of a hot dog so you could use whatever you like on your hot dogs. I had some aioli and rocket but swap in whatever condiments you like! Or replace the aioli with a slice of cheese. Maybe if you are using a spicy sausage like a chorizo add some guacamole. And throw some black beans into your sausage mix….
- You could pretty much style this baby up into anything you wanted just by changing the type of sausage and the condiments / veggies.
Here’s the updated recipe.
Stuffed Onions
A modern take on a vintage stuffed onion recipe!
Ingredients
- 8 medium onions
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 sausages, your choice of flavour,
- 2 tbsp plus more for sprinkling over the top, breadcrumbs
- 1 handful of chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
- 1 cup beef or chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup dry white or red wine (your preference)
- 1 tbsp dukkah to garnish (optional)
- 8 small sprigs of thyme to ganish (optional)
Serving Suggestion
- 8 slices of baguette
- Aioli
- Rocket Leaves
Instructions
- Peel the onions and cut the top and bottom off so they sit flat.
- Scoop out the insides so 2/3 layers of onion are left.
- Finely chop half of the scooped out onion. (Save the rest for another recipe).
- Blanch the cases for 5 minutes then leave to dry.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet then add the chopped onions. Allow them to soften and colour slightly – about 5 minutes.
- Remove the sausage meat from the skins and crumble into the onion mix. Cook for around 5 minutes.
- Drain off the excess fat and add half of the wine and the breadcrumbs..
- Cook for a few minutes then add the herbs, salt and pepper.
- Fill the shells with the stuffing mix.
- Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs and the dukkah if using.
- Garnish with a ting sprig of thyme.
- Arrange the onions in serving dish. Pour in the stock and the remaining wine.
- Bake in a 180C / 350F oven for 45 minutes, basting occasionally.
- Meantime, toast the baguette slices.
- Spread with the aioli and the rocket.
- Top with the cooked onions.
Notes
- Stuffing ingredients and serving suggestions can be modified based on the type of sausages you use and your favourite condiments.
A huge thanks to S.S for the recipe! Sorry it has taken so long! Thanks also to Mrs Dan Sartor for the original recipe. And thanks also to my sadly deceased stepfather who, when ever anyone mentioned anything stuffed vis a vis “Hey I made stuffed onions today” would respond by saying something along the lines of “Oh…I”m sure they weren’t that bad” or “What’s important is that you tried”. Those jokes were running rampant through my head for entire length of this post!
Dad jokes are the worst!
Until you don’t have them anymore…
Huh…Way to finish on a downer.
Ummm….looks around frantically for something to lighten the tone….
Okay, here are some rather unappetizing vintage ideas for stuffed onions!
Here’s a thrifty way to “Satisfy your Inner Man”
I’m not sure. I feel like my inner man would prefer a steak…
And as for this next one all I’m going to say is creamed diced carrots.
You can fill in the blanks on that one….
Have a great week!
