Nonna Angela’s Stuffed Onions
I still dream of my nonna’s stuffed onions: really simple, really tasty. It’s one of those recipes
where you throw everything into a bowl, mix it together then use as a stuffing. The precise
quantities depend on how many onion shells you have and how large they are, but the basic
proportions should be as here. The general rule is that you need about twice as much raw meat
as dry ingredients. The amount of egg for binding depends on how ‘wet’ your meat is. Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 large white onions
200 g minced veal or pork
50 g Italian sausage, chopped
20 g parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 fresh bread roll, grated into crumbs
1 egg
a drizzle of olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut the top and bottom off the onions, cut in half through the middle and separate the
rings – it doesn’t matter if they have holes at the bottom as the stuffing (ripieno) is fairly stiff and
won’t fall out. If the walls of the onion are not that thick, then use two onion shells inside each
other as this not only holds the ripieno, but also intensifies the main flavour.
Put the remaining ingredients in a bowl, season well, and mix together until you have a
paste that is pliable. Spoon this mixture evenly into the onion segments.
Place on a baking tray and bake at Gas Mark 5/190°C for about 10 minutes, or until the filling
is cooked through and the meat is starting to crisp on top, but make sure the onions don’t burn.
Remember the onions will be of varying sizes, so make sure you check the largest ones
to see they are cooked through. My method is to prepare an extra onion to eat – sorry, I mean
to check straight away – just to make sure they are definitely cooked. It’s my excuse and I’m
sticking to it.
These are delicious cold, but to reheat prior to serving, place in a medium hot oven for
about 5 minutes. Grate some additional Parmesan cheese on top just before serving.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster