Monday, March 1, 2010

Caramelizing Onions






One of every one's favorite pizzas is the ricotta cheese topped with caramelized onions. I start with a few types of onions, yellow, sweet and red. You can add what you like or do whatever suits you. Just start with 8 to 12 onions, depending on size and slice them thin. You can use a mandolin if you have one, or a very sharp knife does the job very well.

Then get a large skillet and add some olive oil and butter. I never really measure but it would be about half a stick of butter and a few Tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the onions and start over high heat but bring it down as they start to cook and keep moving them every 5 minutes or so. I eventually end up at a low flame so as not to burn the onions but to gently caramelize them. Add salt and pepper. Add some wine if you like, or balsamic vinegar if that sounds good. Make them your own! It takes about an hour to do them properly and you don't want to burn them. I have some photos here to show the different stages.

You can do these ahead of time, and then lift them out and spread over the pizza with 2 forks. This is a great appetizer cut in squares and reminds me of a calzone.

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