Friday, January 07, 2011

Caramelized Onions

I've mentioned a few times before that Friday night at our house is homemade pizza night. The boys all love it, and it is a guaranteed quick and easy meal for me to prepare. One of my favorite things to put on the "grown-up" pizza is caramelized onions. So easy to make, and so addictive and delicious. If you don't care for onions on your pizza, you still ought to give these a try, because it is a very different flavor than just chopping up some onions and throwing them on your pizza. All you need is one onion - - doesn't matter what kind. I have used red, white, and vidalia and all are great. Cut the onion in half, and then slice each half very thin. Meanwhile, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Toss in your onions, and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar over the top. Stir well. Continue stirring as they cook, for approximately 10 minutes.

If your onions start to brown at all, then you have the heat up too high and may want to turn it down a bit. You are looking for the onions to soften and turn a nice golden color. Don't try to rush them - - the slower they cook, the better they will be.


The end result should look like this. Put as many as you'd like on top of your pizza. I guarantee you, you've never tasted anything like this. They are soooo good. I just put whatever is left over in a Tupperware in the fridge and use them the following week. Some of my favorite combos using caramelized onion are pesto/fresh mozzarella/sausage/caramelized onion, and artichoke heart/black olive/caramelized onion. Just mix them with your favorite topping and give it a try!

4 comments:

Nicky said...

Mmmmm! It's not even lunchtime yet, but that has my taste buds tingling!

Roberta said...

Heather makes the BEST pizzas, and the caramelized onions is her secret ingredient. I've tried to do the same now that we're back home, but my onions just are not as tasty as hers.

Heather said...

Thanks, Mum! I have some sizzling on the stove right now! I've come to the conclusion that the key is to use a cast iron skillet. They always come out much better when I make them in one. I tend to over-cook them when I use a regular skillet, for some reason. I love them! They just really "make" the pizza, I think.

Plan Our Health said...

I absolutely LOVE caramelized onions. And putting them in an iron skillet (which I noticed you are using) makes them heat so much more evenly and turn out better.

And now I just noticed that you mentioned an iron skillet in a reply post. LOL

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