How many ways can you stuff an onion?

[Gifted Gourmet]

With the crisp, chill days of autumn fast approaching, Thanksgiving feasts in the mind, I am recalling something I made many years ago but have now forgotten: what to use to stuff my onions ... I know that I could just Google this but I love "real-life" experiences to learn from ...

I stuff cranberry-Port fillings into my acorn squash, love to fill vegetables with different stuffings, my turkeys with cornbread ... stuffing is a "very good thing" in accordance with the "bounties" of the season ...

So, what would, have you ever, used to stuff an onion?

[beccaboo]

So, what would, have you ever, used to stuff an onion? 

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Bread crumbs and sage, haggis.... That's all I can think of right now.

[helenjp]

Fresh sardines minced and combined with crumbs, spinach etc make a nice stuffing for onions.

[rooftop1000]

A chef I used to work with stuffed them provolone, cream, and thyme.

A nice wild mushroom duxell and foi gras might be nice too....

tracey

[mizducky]

Y'know, I never have made stuffed onions, but I think they'd go really well with a stuffing featuring sausage and/or bacon.

[purplewiz]

In the first Frugal Gourmet cookbook is a recipe for Armenian Stuffed Onion Leaves. They're stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb, rice, tomatoes, and spices. Ever since I saw him make them on his show I've wanted to try them, and I'm not sure why I never quite got around to it.

Marcia.

[jhlurie]

Seeing as how onions are pretty solid, I'm assuming there must be some convenient way to hollow one out?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Years ago when I made those stuffed onions, I remember that I did put some ground up Rubashkin Kosher Polish Sausage inside ... with some other ingredients which now escape me ... some of the ideas here sound quite delicious!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Seeing as how onions are pretty solid, I'm assuming there must be some convenient way to hollow one out?

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This is what I remember about that: you must peel the onions and slice off the tops ... then boil for 12 to 15 minutes until just tender. You then have to drain, cool, and remove (scoop out) the centers leaving the shell intact. Chop the onion centers and reserve for the filling ...

[ruthcooks]

Creamed Spinach with Bacon Look in RecipeGullet

Bechamel with a bit of nutmeg, Hard Cooked Eggs, Chopped onion centers, Buttered Crumbs

Garlic, Parsley, Olive Oil Crumb Stuffing with chopped fresh tomato or sun dried tomato

Creamed fresh or frozen green peas and green lima beans

Baby carrots glazed with maple syrup, butter, orange zest or whatever you fancy.

[purplewiz]

I just remembered the best stuffed onion....

Peel whole raw onions, and cut a thin "cap" off the top. Hollow out the onions - a spoon actually does a pretty good job of this - leaving a shell about 3 layers thick.

Put a pat of butter at the bottom.

Fill the onion with peeled garlic cloves. Put another pat of butter on top of them, and replace the cap you cut off earlier.

Wrap the package in foil and let it roast over the coals for oh, an hour or so, until the garlic is soft and caramelized and the onion is all soft and sweet.

Get a good loaf of crusty bread, cut a slice, and butter it lavishly. Smoosh a couple of cloves of the garlic over that, and top with a piece of onion shell.

Depending on the crowd, you may need up to one of these per person .

Marcia.

[JanMcBaker]

I just remembered the best stuffed onion....

Peel whole raw onions, and cut a thin "cap" off the top. Hollow out the onions - a spoon actually does a pretty good job of this - leaving a shell about 3 layers thick.

Put a pat of butter at the bottom.

Fill the onion with peeled garlic cloves. Put another pat of butter on top of them, and replace the cap you cut off earlier.

Wrap the package in foil and let it roast over the coals for oh, an hour or so, until the garlic is soft and caramelized and the onion is all soft and sweet.

Get a good loaf of crusty bread, cut a slice, and butter it lavishly. Smoosh a couple of cloves of the garlic over that, and top with a piece of onion shell.

Depending on the crowd, you may need up to one of these per person  .

Marcia.

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UP to one per person??! I'd say at LEAST one per person! That sounds like a great preparation! Onions, garlic and butter-- three great tastes that taste great together! Yum!

And in addition--- ages ago I made the Frugal Gourmet stuffed onion leaves. I forget what the innards were, but I do recall parboiling the whole onions, then slicing the onion from top to bottom BUT only from the center out, so that you could peel off, well, onion leaves. I think the bits from the onion center that couldn't be filled may have been chopped for the filling. There was also some cinnamon in the filling too. Hmmm--- maybe it's time to check out that recipe again!

[jsolomon]

Bacon and butternut squash with bread crumbs or roughly-crushed saltines

creamed kale or creamed spinach

mushrooms and beef stroganoff

[BarbaraY]

I've never stuffed an onion although I have stuffed all sorts of other vegetables.

Your post set me to thinking abut what I would stuff an onion with.

Corn bread, sausage, chopped onion innards, red bell pepper or jalapeños, some sort of cheese, and some garlic. Perhaps sage leaves.

Corn bread, chorizo, jalapeño, chopped onion, cumin and oregano with pepper Jack cheese.

The butternut squash sounds very good, too.

Now I have to go try some of the ideas that are rettling through my head.

[ludja]

sauteed onion innards, pancetta, breadcrumbs, parmigiano reggiano, salt, pepper , thyme, a little cream

[EllenC]

I think chicken livers make great onion stuffing.

[Genny]

I was thinking that I've seen an apple corer used to start the hollowing of an onion....

Stuffing: I believe on Iron Chef that Flay used cornbread as the stuffing and then steamed them, looked very good. Maybe corn kernels, corn bread dough, and goat cheese? Add some pimento in there?

Everything goes with onion!!!!

Paula Dean (sp...whatever) did something with the onion and she put a beef bullion cube in it with butter. Looked good!

[BarbaraY]

How about cooked rice, Gorgonzola, onion innards, roasted red pepper, maybe some sun dried tomato, egg to bind, and shredded basil?

[goldie]

How about leftover risotto with chunks of cheese (a firmer one like aged gouda or sharp cheddar)? Or a butternut squash risotto would be pretty. I've used cornbread stuffing with chestnuts- sausage would have been a nice addition.

I'm seeing stuffed onions in my near future...

[Chris Amirault]

I was thinking that I've seen an apple corer used to start the hollowing of an onion....

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A melon baller works, too.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Because it is time to get real about the food I plan to serve for Thanksgiving, and because you have given me such incredible ideas on this topic of stuffings for my huge onions, which I have now purchased, I think I will go with a rice, sausage, chopped onion innards, red bell pepper, and sage leaves as BarbaraY mentioned above. Cornbread is part of my turkey stuffing already so I will use rice. Can't use cheese because meat is being served (kosher requirement).

Will take a picture of the finished items and post here ... Thanks, everyone, on this topic!

[Chris Amirault]

What kind of rice, Mel? If you don't want to spring for wild rice, I'd think that brown jasmine or basmati would be nice.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I was seriously considering the brown jasmine because I like the taste so well and it will stand up to the other stuffing ingredients in the onions ...