Much like the enthusiastic food blogger this post was inspired by, we too are onion fanatics. I have to keep a steady supply of them in the house to add to so many recipes and favorite grilling options. Sis Blogging Partner found this gem of a recipe and it’s going down as a top favorite for sure, so extra big smooches for you, Sis.

I know one thing that crossed my mind: Oven roasting something in this heat? And the answer, because again, these are onions, is…hell to the yes!

The recipe calls for yellow onions, but the ones at the store were tiny, so we went with our favorite variety, Big Ass Sweet Onions. These things were each about the size of a softball if not bigger and we used about four or five of them. Each was split into about four rounds.

The onions are actually cooked twice. The first time is on a baking sheet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

After the initial oven time, you need to raise your oven temp and carefully place the onions, keeping them intact, in a baking dish that will accommodate them in as single a layer as possible (use your most flat spatula or pancake flipper to slide under each round). We had to overlap ours a little but it still worked great.

To the dish at this point you add some heavy cream. Yep, we said it. At this point no one should be surprised!

Next is some fresh-grated Parmesan cheese. If you can get a wedge of it at your store, it really is worth it and our deli even has a store brand Parm that is fantastic and cheaper. Also, check your regular dairy aisle to see if they havy any fresh Parm there.

We did have to work a little harder to get ours to brown on top. If you remove your foil and don’t see a lot of browning action after the time mentioned below, switch to your broiler to finish it up. We did this and it was wooooonderful.

This is a really decadent way to prepare simple, earthy onions, but it brings out everything that is extraordinary about them. Their tenderness, the sweetness they kind of hide beneath that eye-stinging effect they can have. The Parmesan becomes this extra savory layer of deliciousness on top. The cream infuses with the onion flavor and thickens. Oh. Man. I’m so in love with this recipe. Hopefully you will be, too!

Roasted Parmesan Creamed Onions

from Very Culinary, originally from Osteria: Hearty Italian Fare by Rick Tramonto

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: about 40 minutes Level: Easy Serves: 4-6

• 4 medium to large yellow onions
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of white wine
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel and slice the onions into 1/4 inch thick slices. Carefully place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, keeping the rings intact. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes.

While the onions are roasting, place the heavy cream and wine in a small saucepan and simmer until it starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once onions are removed from oven, raise the temperature to 450. Carefully transfer them to a shallow baking dish, again, keeping the rings intact. Slowly pour the cream sauce over all the onions. Sprinkle each onion with the Parmesan cheese.

Cover baking dish with foil and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes, letting the onions get brown and caramelized.

Notes:

Psst! We used more Parmesan than called for, so if you have more left and want to use more than 1/4 cup, feel free. It only gets yummier with a little more!

And another note on the cooking time - ours were not caramelizing or browning on top much at all in that last 5 minutes, so we extended the oven time by another 10 minutes, but still no browning. We switched to the broiler and got the job done that way after about five minutes.

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