Oven onions: the onion boil trend on Tiktok and three recipes from the Italian tradition (which we like most))

The oven onions have been undering Tiktok since last autumn, they seem to be destined to reach the peak this summer and – even if The trend is known how Onion Boil – There is very little “boiled”: it is a question of taking an entire onion (white or golden, the red is not recommended), cut the ends and dig it slightly in the center. At that point the butter, a lot of butter: a generous walnut as a filling, another melted dose paid aboveand then space for creativity with spices to taste – garlic powder, paprika, cayenna pepper, salt. Then it wraps everything in an aluminum sheet and bakes in the oven at medium-low temperature until the onion becomes tender, almost caramelized.

How the trend was born

The name Onion Boilin reality, more than boiled onions is a Ironic tribute to the classic Seafood Boil – Traditional of the United States South: a festive outdoor banquet based on crustaceans, potatoes, corn and onions cooked together in a pot, seasoned with spicy spices and served with rivers of butter. The new plant version is much less expensive, but it still promises an explosion of buttery, spicy and comfortable flavors. The merit of having turned on the fuse of the tendency probably goes to the Tiktoker Mimi Barela (@Dol_Mimi), which even in the summer of 2024 shared a series of videos in which it cooks onions in the oven with butter, vegetable oil and a cascade of spices (paprika, turmeric, garlic salt and the famous 21 Seasoning health of trader Joe’s). From there, the format multiplied: in November, a video of the Content Creator Alivia donai (@Anturandonai) obtained 1.8 million views showing how to fill an onion carved with Kerrygold butter, cover it with a mix of melted butter and Cajun spices, wrap it in aluminum, cook it slowly in the oven and serve it with a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Others Tiktaker They added their variants: Caroline Hadley (@CarebearsBite) puts a chicken broth nut in the cavity for a Umami explosion; Steph Pappas (@stephpappas) Emplets the onion in four and slips slices of butter along each slot – and of course it still adds to the center … the strong point of the Onion Boil It is the fact of requesting Few ingredients, as many passages and lots of flavor. Finally, obtaining a sweet, dark onion, almost candied in butter and spices, with a smoked note reminiscent of the barbecue without the need to turn on a grid. The new trend is clear, this time too it comes from the USA, where we do not know that the stuffed onions cooked in the oven – because in reality we are talking about this – are part of the tradition. To us Italians, however – affirm him in total absence of parochialism – two details cannot escape: the first concerns theimmoderate use of butter in the recipes proposed by Creator; the secondabundance of regional versions of our country to draw on. And that it would be a good idea to recover, for issues of budget And of taste, like the three that we propose to follow.

Ligurian stuffed onions

Ingredients for 4 people: 400 g potatoes, 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, plus to grease the pan, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 kg of white onions, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, 70 g of mortadella, fine chopped, 1 teaspoon of chopped marjoram leaves, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley, salt, pepper, 1 cup of breadcrumbs.

Procedure:

• Wash the potatoes and boil them with the peel
• Put the chopped onion in a pan with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and let it brown over low heat for about 15 minutes without burning it.
• Peel all the onions and boil them in salted water for about 15 minutes (they must remain firm), drain them, cut them in half for the long and gently separated the layers in order to obtain many “bowls”. Keep aside the most medium ones.
• Chop the remaining part of the onions and add it to the pan with the already dry one. Fry for 5 minutes taking care not to burn them.
• Drain the potatoes, peel them and mash them. Put them in a bowl adding the browned onions, eggs, Parmesan, mortadella, marjoram and parsley. Mix, season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and grease it with oil.
• Fill the onion bowls with the potato filling and put them next to them in the pan. Sprinkle with plenty of breadcrumbs and season with extra virgin olive oil.
• Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the surface is golden.
• Serve warm, better still at room temperature.

Sicilian stuffed onions

Ingredients for 4 people: 4 onions, 50 g of stale breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1 tuft of parsley, 50 gr of grated caciocavallo, 1 tuft of chives, 50 gr of cooked ham, 80 gr of soft goat cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper.

Procedure

• Clean the onions, cutting only a portion of the upper and lower cap.
• Boil them in boiling water for 15/20 minutes.
• Drain them, let them cool and remove the most external layers of the onion.
• With a pointed knife, dig the onion a little in the center.
• In a bowl knead the crumbled stale breadcrumbs, the caciocavallo, the chopped parsley, the chopped chives, the beaten egg and the cooked ham reduced to a mush, then adjust with salt and pepper.
• Fill the onions in the carved part, making the mixture penetrate in all layers.
• Coat a baking tray with slightly oiled parchment paper, arrange the onions and sprinkled with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
• Bake at 180 ° for about 30 minutes.
• A minute before extracting them from the oven, place a piece of goat cheese above each onion so that it melts without burning.
• Serve hot.

Piedmontese stuffed onions

Ingredients for 4 people: 4 medium blonde onions (traditionally the flat ones of drubiaglio), 150 g of minced beef minced meat are used (or a mixed pork for a richer flavor), 50 g of finely chopped cooked ham (some versions also use cooked salami), 50 g of stale bread (or Piedmontese breadsticks), qb milk to soak the bread, 1 egg, 30-40 g of Grated Parmesan, 1 finely chopped (optional) garlic clove, chopped parsley, grated nutmeg, to taste the pan (for the pan and a few bows above the onions), breadcrumbs to taste, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Procedure

• Peel the onions and remove the base, so that they are “standing”. Boil them in plenty of salted boiling water for about 15-20 minutes, until they are slightly kept but still firm. Drain gently and let it cool.
• When the onions are fairly cold, cut them in half horizontally. With a teaspoon, gently empty each half, leaving an edge of about half a centimeter. Finely chop the pulp.
• Crumble the stale bread in a bowl and soak it in the milk. Squeeze it well with your hands to eliminate excess milk.
• In a pan, heat a drizzle of oil and brown the minced meat with chopped garlic (if you use it) until it is well cooked. Add the chopped onion pulp and cook for a few minutes until it is softened.
• In a large bowl, mix the meat cooked with the onion pulp, the chopped cooked ham, the soaked and squeezed bread, the egg, the grated Parmesan, the chopped parsley, a grated nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients well.
• Fill half of the onions with the prepared mixture, pressing slightly. If you wish, you can sprinkle the surface with a little breadcrumbs and lay a few bows of butter on top.
• Lightly grease a baking dish with butter (or oil). Arrange the stuffed onions in the baking dish. Add a little milk or vegetable broth on the bottom of the baking dish (about half a glass).
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for about 30-40 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the filling will have a golden color.