Onions, garlic, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil are among my favorite things. Roasted onions are especially delicious and, according to Beth’s harvest calender, they’re in season in my area.
This dish is perfect for dressing up a salad or starting a meal. A lot of recipes call for bacon and bread crumbs, but this a lighter take on roasted onions, with simple fresh and local ingredients. The onions are the star of this dish and you can feel free to stuff them with whatever you’d like, butternut squash for instance could be a great alternative.
I prefer using large red onions, they add great color but any onion will do (sweet onions are delicious roasted with honey). For two onions, you’ll need two tomatoes, 1 cup of fresh mozzarella, half cup of basil and a clove of garlic.
Preheat oven to 425. Peel the onion and cut a 1/2-inch-thick slice from tops of onions, discarding tops. Place your onions on a cookie sheet, cut side down and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Roast until tender, but not collapsing, 25-30 minutes.
While those are cooking, you’re going to prepare your stuffing. Cut your fresh mozzarella into bite sized cubes and dice your tomatoes, add that to a bowl with your chopped basil and minced garlic. Mix in olive oil and balsamic, with salt and pepper.
When your onions are done, grab a fork and scoop out the inside of the onion, leaving the 3 outerlayers in tact to hold the stuffing. Put your onion shells aside. Chop up your the remaining roasted onion and add that to your caprese mixture. Stuff your onion shells and add them to a bed of greens for an amazing appetizer.
Recipe via WorstCookEver.com
Noelle dEstries
Noelle d'Estries, an early GO employee who took on the varied roles of Community Manager, green celebrity blogger, and more. She currently runs worstcookever.com GO entered Noelle's life in February 2007 while she was burning tires in her backyard. A phone call from the green gods at GO, burnt out the fires. Now, Noelle happily wears her GO sweatshirt while eating organic veggies and asking for paper, not plastic. A regular at the local farmer's market, Noelle shuns raking leaves and lawn maintenance, while making gourmet foods constantly. When not staring at her computer screen, she spends time with her equally attractive dog, Tessa, cat, Tim and lover Paul. She currently holds all three point records at RIT and could eat avocados and drink wine for the rest of her life.
One Response to Local Gourmet: Roasted Onions with Caprese Stuffing
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I love roasted onions, the flavor is great by itself, stuffing them is a whole next layer to the dish! Thanks.