Why Make Roasted Onions?
Is it just me or have people forgotten about roasted onions as a side dish? Sure, they are quartered and spread with other root vegetables at the bottom of a roasting tray alongside a gigantic roast where they are cooked until dry, burnt, and tosses aside as they are no longer edible.
But as a stand-alone side dish or appetizer? I can’t think of the last time I saw such a thing. Apparently, it has gone out of fashion which is a bit of a shame really when you consider how good a tender and golden brown caramelized onion can be.
So, keeping this in mind, I decided to bring them back. I am a bit of a champion for the long-forgotten underdog dish. It’s time to bring them back to the table in a glorious comeback. After all, there are always onions kicking around, needing a good use for them. So, why not this simple dish?
Why put cheese with an onion?
When I first moved to the UK, I was most excited about the local supermarket cheese aisle. After 10 plus years of living in Asia where good cheese was expensive and hard to come by, strolling down the Tesco cheese aisle was an absolute dream.
Over the past couple of months, I have happily savored the finest cheeses Scotland has to offer and learned a new thing or two about what goes well served with them such as chutneys, oatcakes, and most importantly, onion.
For as long as people in the UK have been devouring cheese sandwiches, they have added onion to them. Just a little bit of sharp onion grated into a bitey cheese made the pairing a match made in mouth heaven and not just for the ubiquitous sandwich.
This flavor combination of cheese and onion is quite popular in British pies, pastries, potato chips and whatever else you can find. So, why put a sprinkling of cheese on roasted onions? Because why would you choose anything else?
Throw it in with your favorite roast.
When it comes to side dishes, this is as easy as it comes. The hardest part is fighting back tears as you peel the onions.
Other than that, simply throw it in the oven with your favorite roast then let the heat of the oven work its magic. I like to make this recipe around the holidays with a bacon-wrapped stuffed turkey but then again, any roast will do as long as there are roasted onions to go along with it!
Roasted onions with crispy bacon and blue stilton
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 3-4 1x
Description
Roasted onions topped with tangy blue stilton and crispy bacon. An easy side dish to accompany your favorite roast. #roast #holidays #recipe #cheese #easysidedish #onions
Ingredients
3–4 yellow medium sized onions
3–4 slices of streaky bacon
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (chopped)
3–4 tbsp white wine
1–2 oz blue stilton
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F) or 180 C ( 350 F) with fan.
Fry strips of bacon in a pan or medium-high heat until crispy then remove from pan and place on paper towels to soak up the excess grease. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE BACON GREASE. Keep that to drizzle over the onions later.
Peel onions and cut off the ends.
Cut down the middle and assemble in a baking or roasting tray.
Drizzle half a tablespoon of white wine over each onion then sprinkle chopped fresh thyme leaves over the onions.
Take the bacon grease that is still in the pan and drizzle it over the onions.
Cover with baking foil or lid and place in the oven to roast for 40-60 minutes or until soft and slightly browning on the edges.
Remove from oven. Crumble the blue stilton and crispy bacon and sprinkle both over the tops of the onions. Remember that blue stilton packs a punch so go easy with it if you are not that big of a fan of it.
Place back in the oven and roast uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven when onions are brown and slightly crispy and the cheese has melted.
Serve hot with your favorite roast or even as an appetizer.
Notes
Don’t like stinky cheeses like blue stilton? No problem! Just substitute your favorite cheese instead. I recommend gruyere or sharp cheddar for this recipe.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Appetizer, side dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: Western
If you are looking for a killer roast recipe, give these a try:
Pork Loin Roasted with Bacon, Apple and Sage
Turkey stuffed with black pudding and pear
