Cheesy Bacon Baked Onions

Onions stuffed with cheese and herbs and then roasted so that the fat from the bacon on top can melt divinely into them, are a treat, an unusual side dish that elevates the onion from bit player to a starring role.

Onions are used in so many recipes as a seasoning or base flavor that I think we forget that they can be a side dish. Is there anything more delightful alongside a steak as some grilled onions? And onion rings done right, that is, lightly battered and crispy, are a joy. But we hardly ever think of onions as something to stuff or roast or bake with cheese on top. And that’s just a shame.

For my second post for week two of Bacon Month, I’d like to share with you a recipe from Jamie Oliver’s very first cookbook, the one that made his name a household word, The Naked Chef*, published almost 14 years ago.  Bacon is essential to a lot of recipes but never more than in this one where it flavors the onion as it bakes, as well as adding crunch to the finished dish.

Cheesy Bacon Baked Onions

Ingredients
4 tennis ball-sized yellow onions (about 1.1 lbs or 500g in total)
1 1/2 oz or 40g Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Black pepper
Cayenne
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
4 slices smoked streaky bacon
1 tablespoon minced mixed fresh herbs. I used rosemary and parsley but thyme and marjoram or oregano would work as nicely.

Method
Peel the onions, leaving the root side intact.

Boil the onions in a pot of water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

When the onions are cool enough to handle, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Cut the root end off of the onions so that they can sit upright securely. Hollow out a nice sized hole in the top of the each onion and chop up the bits you take out.

Grate your cheese with the small holes of your grater.

Mix the herbs, cheese and chopped onions together and add a few good grinds of black pepper.

Add in the olive oil and mix thoroughly.

Divide the onion/cheese mixture up into four equal parts and stuff it back in the onions.

Cover the top of each onion with a slice of bacon, folded in half.

Sprinkle each with a little cayenne pepper, if desired.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the bacon on top is crispy.

Enjoy!