Dora Boylen-Pabst
CFRE, (she·her·hers)
Schomberg, Ontario
Holiday Recipe: Baked Onions with Gruyere and Fresh Thyme
Ingredients
- 6 medium sweet onions such as Spanish or red or a mixture
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh thyme
- ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
- Several grindings of black pepper
- ½ cup (125 mL) whipping cream
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) dry white wine
- ½ cup (125 mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups (375 mL) grated Gruyère
- Several sprigs fresh thyme
Directions
- Place rack just above centre; preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Thinly remove both ends of onions; peel onions. Cut each in half around the equator.Using a sharp chef’s knife, cross-hatch these inner surfaces with cuts about ½ inch (1 cm) apart, going quite deeply down, but not through narrow ends of rounds. Lay them snugly, cut-side up, on a rimmed baking tray.
- Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with chopped thyme, salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for20 minutes. Transfer onions, cross-hatched side up, fitting snugly into a baking dish just large enough to hold all in a single layer, such as a large oval gratin dish or 9 x 13-inch (3-L) dish.
- Stir cream with wine; pour over onions. Cover dish with foil; continue baking for 25 minutes or until onions are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove dish from oven; uncover onions.
- Increase oven temperature to 450°F (230°C).
- Sprinkle onions with Parmesan; then with Gruyère. Bake uncovered for 8 minutes or until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling. Serve garnished with thyme, whole or chopped.
Serves 6 to 8