Onions, on their own, are pretty great. They’re inexpensive and they last a long time. Raw, they have an unmistakable sharp bite; sautéed, they become silky and sweet.
But when they’re cooked forever and ever into a thyme-infused deep brown softness, becoming the basis for French onion something? Oh là là.
I say “French onion something” because we have a bunch of recipes that apply that rich, caramelized onion treatment to a nonsoup entity. See: French onion dip, French onion panade, French onion mac and cheese, French onion grilled cheese, French onion sliders, French onion skillet chicken. Ham El-Waylly has now added to this esteemed list his French onion orecchiette, which turns five onions, a heavy splash of “whatever dark liquor you have lying around” (Ham’s words) and pasta into a luxurious dinner.
It’s not a quick dinner — as anyone who has ever made caramelized onions knows, with low heat and lots of time necessary to coax out that deep, satisfying sweetness from the onions. But I love these sorts of “long cook time, little effort” recipes for weekends, when I can poke around the kitchen stirring the onions every now and then while I attempt other household chores. And to nod to the cheesy toast that tops the soup, Ham adds a Gruyère-panko topping to the pasta, which gets a quick broil to crisp into golden goodness. Because this isn’t just pasta. It’s French onion pasta.
Featured Recipe
French Onion Orecchiette
So we’ve built a beautiful dinner out of a bag of onions. What should we do with that bunch of celery? Alexa Weibel (she of “the beans”) turns a pound of celery into velvety celery-leek soup with potato and parsley, which, if made with vegetable stock and without the optional crème fraîche or heavy cream to finish, is vegan. But I might also stir in some leftover rotisserie chicken, or top my bowl with a handful of roasted chickpeas for some protein.
There’s also this cod, celery and potato stew with coconut and herbs from Ham that braises a (literal) bunch of celery in a spiced, white-wine bath with tiny potatoes and snowy hunks of white fish. “So so so delicious, a really unique dish,” writes Antara, a reader. “Never thought celery would be my favorite!”
My colleague Tanya Sichynsky brilliantly covered carrots in a recent Veggie newsletter; I’ve added Sue Li’s five-spice roasted carrots with toasted almonds to my “make ASAP” list. But I’ll hold back two carrots for Mark Bittman’s chicken cobbler, which is essentially a chicken potpie but with less dough and more vegetables.
Lastly, since you spent all that time caramelizing the onions, you deserve a dessert that comes together quickly. Ali Slagle’s microwave Nutella pudding cake is done in the time it takes you to stir together chocolate hazelnut spread, an egg and some baking powder, plus 45 to 60 minutes of zapping. If instant gratification exists, it looks like this and deserves a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt on top.
