What do you do with three ice cream container loads of onions? This wasthe dilemma in our house this morning. We spent last night chopping onions for asausage sizzle fundraiser that was due to be held today. I offered to be theonion chopper to do my bit rather than sell sausages. Except today it rained sothe fundraiser was cancelled. Now our house stinks, and we have a large pile ofchopped onions. The solution? – caramelise them so they last, and then come upwith as many recipes as we can that can use caramelised onions! Easy.
Tonight’s recipe is sooo good – Pumpkin and Cashew Stir fry, withcaramelised onions .First of all a quick breakdown on how to caramelise onions.
Caramelising onions is an easy process, but it takes a while. You shouldallow around 40 minutes cooking time.
Ingredients:
OnionsOlive oil
Salt
Sugar
Balsamic vinegar
Method:
- Halve the onions, and slice them finely lengthwise.The finer you slice the onions the more exposed to heat they will be and thequicker the caramelisation process will take place
- Place a largish splash of olive oil in a pan
- Heat the oil until hot, but not too hot! if it’s smoking it’s too hotand you’ll risk burning your onions before they have a chance to caramelise
- Spread your sliced onion evenly over the pan base and stir so that allpieces are coated in oil
- Cook for around 10 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally
- Add a couple of pinches of salt. Salt enhances the flavour of the onionsand draws out water and make it easier for the sugar to caramelise
- Add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
- Cook for another 30 minutes. As the onions begin to caramelise they willstart to stick to the bottom of the pan. This is all part of the process and isnecessary for the onions to acquire a rich brown colour. However, don’t allowthe onions to stick for too long as they will burn. Scrape the base of your panregularly with a wooden spatula
- When the onions are pretty much done add a splash of balsamic vinegar.Balsamic vinegar enhances both the flavour and the colour of the cooked onions.Be careful not to use too much, though, or your onions will be too watery
Then – make your Pumpkin and Cashew stir fry!
You will need
500 g cubed pumpkin
75 g raw cashews
1/2 leek (white part only) sliced thinly
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mustard seeds
caramelised onions
1 crushed garlic clove
Directions:
- Heat a wok or fry pan until super hot, add the oil
- Roast your cubed pumpkin for approx 15 mins or until softening at 180degrees Celsius
- Stir fry your cashews until they are golden and then then drain on somepaper towels
- Stir fry the leek until it has softened and also remove from the pan
- Add more oil to the pan and add the coriander, mustard seeds, cumin andgarlic and stir fry until it smells gorgeous and the mustard seeds begin to pop
- Add the pumpkin to the pan and stir it so it is coated in the spice mix,approx 5 mins
- Add in the leek, cashews and a few handfuls of caramelised onions andstir well
Honestly – the sweet onions, sweet pumpkin and the crunchy cashews arejust the best combination.
Enjoy!!
Cheers
Ali
Question: Quick – give me some more ideas on what to cook with those onions!!
