SWEET AND UMAMI-PACKED, caramelized
onions make dishes of all kinds better.
Sad soup? Give your mirepoix a boost by
caramelizing the onions before adding
the other ingredients. Casserole lacks
oomph, and you dare not rely on that
can of cream-of-something soup? Cara-
melized onions are here for you. Have an
onion and dried pasta on hand? Cara-
melize that onion, and toss with cooked
pasta, maybe an herb or some pepper
and cheese, and boom—dinner is served.
The only catch to this pantry power-
house is that caramelized onions take
over an hour to cook properly, and
chances are high they will scorch a little
and turn acrid and bitter. When I was
in culinary school, I was taught that
the enemies of caramelization are
movement and moisture. I have come
to respectfully disagree, at least where
onions are concerned. Those elements
are, in fact, exactly what’s needed to
achieve caramelized onion nirvana.
Enter this fail-safe technique for cara-
melizing onions, which uses a lid and
some water to manipulate the moisture
of the cooking onions, guaranteeing
sublime sweetness. Properly caramel-
ized onions are spreadably soft but
maintain their individual strands, are
uniform in their mahogany color, and
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PERFECT CARAMELIZED
ONIONS
JANUARY 2020
taste silky-sweet with a hint of onion
bite. They cook down to a third of their
original volume, giving up the major-
ity of their moisture while their sug-
ars slowly caramelize, darkening into
a slump of flavor fit for improving any
number of wintertime dishes.
Even cooking starts with even cutting.
It’s more important that the onions be
cut uniformly than cut a specific size. If
it’s easier for you to cut onions into 1/2-
inch pieces rather than 1/4-inch pieces, no
problem. Just be consistent—the onions
will still caramelize evenly, though larger
cuts may take a bit longer to cook.
Also key: stirring the onions and
scraping down the sides of the pan often
to ensure no strand darkens faster than
another. A heatproof rubber spatula is
the tool for this job; it’s stiff enough to
SOUP SAVER
Stir^1 / 4 cup pureed
caramelized onions into
brothy vegetable soups to
thicken them slightly and
add an extra layer of
savory flavor. They’re also
great in mashed potatoes.
PASTA PRONTO
Toss 1 pound cooked short
pasta (such as casarecce
or penne) with 1 cup
caramelized onions,^1 / 2 cup
pasta cooking liquid,
grated Parmesan, and
black pepper.
QUICK QUICHE
Spread 1 cup caramelized
onions in the bottom of a
parbaked 9-inch tart shell;
top with 1 cup diced ham
and 6 eggs beaten with 1
cup heavy cream. Bake at
350°F about 35 minutes.
3 WAYS TO USE CARAMELIZED ONIONS
scrape the bottom of the pan but flexible
enough to clean the sides.
Since they take a bit of time and a
careful eye, I do the bulk of my onion
caramelizing on the weekend. I let
the cooked onions cool to room tem-
perature then divide them into ice cube
trays to freeze and use throughout the
week. Sometimes, depending on what I
plan to use them for, I puree them before
freezing them. The pureed onion ice
cubes are great for melting into sauces
and soups, while longer onion strands
are ideal for adding to rustic soups
and clinging to curly pasta shapes.
However you plan to use these caramel-
ized onions, start with more onions than
you think you’ll need. They’ll cook down
to a fraction of their original volume.
—MARY-FRANCES HECK
ILL
US
TR
AT
IO
N:
RA
CH
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