Nici Wickes: Stuffed Onions Baked with Tomato Cream Sauce

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

This recipe is just so divine and though it sounds complicated it really is very simple. My mum would cook this for our family dinners, to satisfy the vegetarians in the family.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

3 - 4 very large onions

450 g fresh washed spinach or silverbeet

275 g ricotta

2 eggs

50g Parmesan cheese, grated

a good pinch of thyme or oregano

salt and pepper

 

Sauce

250ml cream

450g tin of tomatoes

cayenne pepper and salt

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and butter a large oven proof dish.
2. Cut the onions (with the skin still on) from top to bottom only half way though, through to the heart.
3. Put them into a large pot of boiling water and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes. They will have opened up a little. Remove from the pot and let cool.
4. Now parboil the trimmed spinach or silverbeet until wilted then strain and squeeze all the water from it. Chop.
5. Mash the ricotta, eggs, cheese and seasoning then add the chopped greens and set aside.
6. Now the fun part....stuffing the onions: Remove the skin off the onions and separate the layers of onions - you should get 6-7 layers from each onion, place them on a tea towel to drain. The hearts of the onions can be chopped finely and added to the stuffing.
7. Place a spoonful of stuffing (don't overstuff) on each onion section and roll up and place seam side down in your oven dish so that they all fit snugly.
8. Now puree the tomatoes and whisk together with the cream and seasonings and spoon over the onions to coat them.
9. Bake for 45 minutes and spoon over more of the sauce if they look as though they are drying a little.
10. Lovely served with a salad.

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