We all know and love eggplant parmigiana. And I’ve also delved into other parmigianesque treatments of vegetables like zucchini and fennel. But somehow I’ve failed to share my favorite parmigiana of them all: Onion Parmigiana.
I first had this about 6 years ago at Il Cerreto , a small restaurant run by a family that also has a farm and agriturismo. Almost all of the products in the kitchen come from the farm, including the justifiably well known cipolla di cannara – a local variety of super sweet onion. As far as I can tell it was Doriana, the mother in the family and also the head chef, who developed what is basically a fried onion casserole.
Imagine if you took the best onion rings imaginable, and then layered them with a rich tomato sauce, bechemel and grated parmigiano. The photos never come out as good as it tastes (I mean it’s a casserole, so what do you expect?). Rest assured it’s absurdly delicious.
Onion Parmigiana
Yield 4
This recipe is obviously the best if you are making all the ingredients from scratch. But if you want to buy premade tomato sauce or even premade bechamel, that's ok. My friend Evan even did a version with take out onion rings. I'm not sure I approve that message. 😉
Ingredients
- 9x9 inch baking pan
- 2 large sweet onions (like vidalia)
- 1 cup flour
- 3 eggs
- salt
- pepper
- Sunflower oil
- butter
- Tomato sauce (see below)
- Bechamel sauce (see below)
- 1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
*Tomato sauce: Put 8 cups of tomato puree into a pan along with 2 chicken wings, salt and pepper. Let cook for about 40 minutes, on low flame, until the sauce is thickened. Let cool before using.
Bechamel sauce:50 grams butter50 grams flour1/2 liter (2 cups) whole milk, heatednutmegmelt the butter in a pan and then add the flour. Stir and let it cook for about 3 minutes, but don’t let it brown. Slowly add the milk, stirring, until it is all mixed in. Continue stirring until it is thickened, and add salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg to taste. Set aside.
Instructions
- Before you being make the tomato sauce and the bechamel sauce (see below for recipes)
- Peel and slice the onions into very thin rings, about 1/8 inch. Put into a bowl, separating the rings. Add enough flour to coat the onion rings, tossing them so that they are all dusted.
- Break the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Beat with a fork break up, but don’t over do it.
- Pour the sunflower oil into a high edged saute pan, enough to come up about 3 inches. Heat over medium high flame. When the oil is hot, take a handful of the onion rings, and place them in the eggs, tossing them with your hands to coat. Gently lift them out and carefully drop them into the hot oil. Don’t over crowd. Fry the onions until golden, and then remove to a parchment lined tray. Work in batches until you are done.
- Butter the baking pan, then begin to layer the parmigiana. Each layer should be very thin, dont over do it. You may have too many ingredients to fit into one pan, so you can probably make another smaller one.
- A thin layer of tomato sauceA layer of fried onionA thin layer of tomato sauceA layer of bechamel, which will be more of dollops than a real layerA few tablespoons of freshly grated parmigiano reggianoAnother layer of onionsAnother thin layer of sauceAnother layer of bechamelA final layer of parmigiano
- At this point you can set it aside, or even freeze it to thaw out or heat up for later.
- Place in a preheats 350F/180C oven for about 20 minutes, until hot and bubbling.
A few more fun photos from Il Cerretto
Sophie hanging out with the family.
Melissa Clark and Doriana playing with their food.
Recipe printed and saved. Traveling soon, but somehow I think this is going to show up next to the holiday turkey…
Great choice!
On our last trip to Bevagna I’d see the signs to Il Ceretto and say to myself, where have I heard of them before. Now I know. We will go next time. Grazie.
I love eggplant and zucchini parmigiana but onion is new for me. Dying to try it. I love when an ingredient like the onion which usually plays a supporting role gets to “star”.
By the way, belated congrats on your appearance in the Puglia episode of Searching for Italy. I was watching with the family and shouted out “Hey, I know her!”
Thanks! That was actually Sophie. 😉
Oops…
What would you serve as a side dish with this? I plan on making this for a few guests this week. ☺️
I’d serve this as a first course, or primo instead of pasta. Or if you want to serve it as a main course, then just a salad would be nice.