Recipe for sweet and sour onions
Sour-sweet onion petals, perfect to complement a rich piece of meat.
We have the recipe from the book: “FLAVOR: 100 Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes from Celebrity Chef Yotam Ottolenghi“, written by Yotam Ottolenghi & Ixta Belfrage. They write the following about the recipe:
“The onions here – sweet inside, charred on the edges, and swimming in tart pomegranate syrup – have their roots at Testi, a Turkish restaurant in North London that we love. They made a similar dish, where the onions were grilled alongside lamb, tossed in şalgam, a juice made from the tangy brine of fermented purple carrots and turnips, and finally sweetened with pomegranate molasses. The bittersweet onions are served with the meat, cutting through the richness like a sharp knife.
Our onions are cooked with reduced pomegranate juice instead of şalgam and pomegranate molasses. They would naturally go well with grilled meat, but we also think they’re super delicious in vegetarian contexts, for example with goat cheese as here, although it can be omitted. They would also be great with hummus, an eggplant salad and some bread.”
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef'S Knife
- Oven
- Frying Pan
- Pot
- Baking Tray
- Baking Paper
- Oven
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 500 gram Red Onion the size of golf balls (about 12 pieces), halved lengthwise
- 69 gram Olive Oil
- 400 gram Pomegranate Juice no added sugar
- 10 gram Chives finely chopped
- 70 gram Goat Cheese fresh & creamy, divided into pieces of about 2 cm -can be omitted
- 1.5 gram Chili Flakes urfa chili flakes - or other chili flakes if you can't get them
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200° with fan.
- 2. Heat a large non-stick pan thoroughly over high heat. Toss the onions with 2 tbsp oil and ¼ tsp salt, and place them cut-side down and well spaced on the smoking hot pan. Place a pot on top of the onions to press them down against the pan and char evenly, reduce heat to medium-high, and let them cook undisturbed for about 6 minutes, or until the cut sides are well charred. Transfer the onions to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, charred side up, and bake them for about 20 minutes, or until tender. It may take a little longer if the onions are larger than golf balls. Remove and let them cool.
- 3. Meanwhile, pour the pomegranate juice into a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Let it reduce for about 12 minutes, until there is only about ¾ dl left, and the consistency is like thin maple syrup. Set aside and let cool. It will thicken further as it cools.
- 4. Stir the chives together with the remaining ½ dl oil and a good pinch of salt, and set the mixture aside.
- 5. Pour the pomegranate syrup into a large rimmed dish, tilting the dish to distribute it evenly. Using your fingers, separate the onions into single layers, arranging them like flower petals atop the syrup. Scatter the goat cheese over, if desired, and finish with the chive oil and a sprinkle of urfa chili flakes.