Onion Purée – Secret Flavor Booster

My wife’s garden is bursting with onions that need to be used.  What to do..?

Crema di Cipolle…

That sounds delicious, doesn’t it..?  It is, and I am here to tell you about it…

Most cooks and chefs have a flavoring trick or two tucked away that they use from time to time.  This one comes from Nick Stellino, whom I wrote about several years back.  Nick actually credits the following recipe to a Benedictine monastery near Palermo. 

A recipe from the heavens?

Regardless of the origin, this is good stuff.  Making soup?  Or maybe a pasta sauce?  A scoop of this onion purée will add depth of flavor.  Freeze the finished purée in ice cube trays and you have them ready as needed.  Buon appetito..!

Crema di Cipolle

·         5 large onions, thinly sliced
·         1 bay leaf
·         1 tsp thyme
·         ¼ tsp salt
·         ¼ tsp pepper
·         1 cup dry Marsala wine
·         2 quarts Beef or Chicken Stock (I use one of each)

Place all ingredients into a stockpot.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to reduce liquid, 2 – 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.  When most of the liquid has evaporated, remove the bay leaf and put onions in a food processor.  Process until creamy.  Spoon the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze.  When frozen through, remove from trays and place in freezer bags.

Guard the cubes with your life, and don’t tell anybody about them…   It’s a secret..!