Years ago we were watching Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello and he and a friend had a pizza cook-off. I cannot recall who won, but I do know we came away with the best Onion Confit recipe EVER. I usually make up a couple of batches and freeze; they are perfect for a pizza base, sauce base, dip base, even on a salad with crumbled blue or goats cheese. And because I freeze small quantities, they defrost quite easily. Please click here for Chef Chiarello’s original recipe.
I posted my take on the original recipe here, but I never took a photo of it. Well, you’re in luck because I made some up on the weekend and I was smart enough (wink, wink) to remember to take a gorgeous daylight filled photo of it.
Incredibly sweet and tangy, these onions make an amazing topping to pizza, salads brioche...the possibilities are endless
For additional ideas on how to use these gorgeous sweet onions, please see:
- Replace the caramelized onion in LCBO’s Cheddar and Onion Dip
- Spread a layer of the onion confit on the bread before you add the topping in this Bruschetta recipe
- Use the onion confit as your base on any pizza, but this Fig and Goats Cheese Pizza would be deeeee-lish
- Add it to the Fajita Salad in this recipe
- And last but not least, replace the dates in this delicious Poached Pear with Stilton, Walnuts and Bacon Salad
Kitcheninspirations 
[…] always keep caramelized onions in the freezer in ziplock baggies for such uses. I use this […]
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[…] vinegar adds a little bite and bit of sweetness, if you don’t like my Onion Confit then omit it or add less (or even substitute a good, rich balsamic […]
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[…] the onion confit, I used this tried and true […]
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[…] cup caramelized onions (please click here for a great […]
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[…] in this process (or you can use EVOO, but I’m trying to keep it lower in fat). Or you can use this […]
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[…] cup sweet onion confit, please click here for the […]
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[…] 1/2 cup sweet onion confit […]
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[…] click here for the Sweet onion confit […]
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On pizza.. very addicting.. and I’m thinking on just my every day sandwiches.. this would make them taste gourmet!! Oh.. and burgers!! Just imagine that!!
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That’s a great idea Smidge, I love the idea of small sandwiches and burgers and sliders. Thank you.
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Oh there are so many ways to enjoy this, all wonderful!
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believe it or not my daughter loved onion confit and anything with sauted onions, and she would love all those suggestions you listed
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Your daughter must have some sophisticated taste buds, Sawsan. But then again, I am not surprised with the types of foods you introduce to your children. I feel a little sorry for their future partners.
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Hey, Eva. I posted the pizza with caramelized onions recipe I told you about. Lots of pictures as you can imagine. 🙂 My nephew and I had a great first weekend.
http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/91949.html
Chicken fajitas tomorrow.
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I was just over at your post, Maria, the pizza looks as wonderful as I thought it would. I am glad that you were able to tweak the recipe to a combo more to your taste. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank YOU for inspiring me to get off my lazy tushie and get to work on posting it. I froze away the extra in a couple of tupperware containers for future needs. Not that those 4 monstrous onions actually made a LOT! It’s amazing how much water the onions lose during the cooking process. My saucepan barely held the contents to start with.
Your cheddar and onion dip would be perfect with some of the leftover confit. I have some cheddar cheese in the freezer which I was going to use for my 4 cheese mac and cheese but I’m sure the dip would be even better.
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How I love caramelised onion! It was a few months since I made it, but I think I might cook it down even more… I can’t remember to be honest… maybe I cook it down too much. It’s still delicious but it doesn’t really have the glossy look that yours does so I might try cooking it a bit less next time. It’s just a pain to make because you have to cut so many darn onions to get even a tiny bowl of the stuff. I was in agony last time from peeling and cutting 5 kilos of onions and what do you get at the end of it… a clump that you can pick up with one hand 😀
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Thanks Charles, I love the technique my first post described, to cut a parchment lid and use that instead of the real lid, this allows the moisture to escape and the onion to really caramelize. You could use a food processor with a slicing blade, but I generally just use my mandolin. 5 kilos is a lot of onions.
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I love onion confit! Especially with foie gras, but it’s also a fantastic tartlets filler. I make a big batch of onion confit preserves every autumn. Then I only need to go to my pantry and choose a jar 🙂
Thanks for so many suggestions!
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What a great idea, Sissi. I don’t have a lot of confidence in my canning abilities, so I’ll just stick to freezing mine!
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I always have great ideas of having a big jar of this in the fridge but I end up eating it all and then it’s gone! Clearly I need to make a bigger batch of it and freeze it as you’ve suggested! 🙂
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It really is so versatile, Lorraine. I have yet to make your bacon jam. I remember when I saw that post, I thought, how decadent but it would certainly go with so many things.
What’s so funny is that I’ve seen it pop up in many places now, like my flavourite gourmet shop; you’re such a trend setter!!
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I love onion marmalade and I usually make it every Christmas to serve with hot ham. It does take a while to sweat down those onions! I love how useful it is and find it a perfect accompaniment for a grilled cheese sandwich.
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Hi Charlie, great ideas all around. Yes indeed, it does take a long time to caramelize, but that’s the nice thing about this recipe, it’s just a bit of baby sitting while they are in the oven,
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I love this idea Eva — since I’m such a fan of carmelized onions. I made your dip over the holidays and I’ll be making it again. I especially like the idea of freezing a batch in small portions for some of these other great dishes.
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Very cool Barb, so glad you enjoyed the dip. This confit pairs exceptionally well with goats cheese.
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Eva, this looks fantastic! I love anything with cooked onions~ I’m glad you reposted!
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Thank you kindly Ann, it’s been with us since 2008 (I can hardly believe that) so it surely is a good one!
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Oh that is a great idea – to use on a pizza. And good idea to cook up a bit batch and freeze.
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Welcome to my blog, it’s great to meet you, GG. It’s a keeper recipe, that’s for sure!
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Checked out the recipe and will be making it (vidalia onions are on sale this week) especially since it freezes well (you know how I love to cook for my freezer).
Just thinking, this would go well with the pressed tofu in my freezer, must give this more thought.
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Mmmmmm, Norma, that’s a great idea. This recipe plays on the sweet and acidity that many Asian recipes play on, so I’m certain the tofu would love it. Can hardly wait to see what you do with it.
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This sounds great Eva, and I love the idea of making something so versatile that you can freeze it, thaw it and make a lot of different things out of it…way cool! I think I need to have some of this on hand. 🙂
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It’s been a great recipe, Betsy, and other than baby sitting it as it caramelizes, it’s so easy!
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I don’t think I ever posted the caramelized onions I used on my goat cheese/prosciutto pizza many posts ago but the picture above reminded me of that delicious creation.
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Yes, I remember when you made that recipe, Maria. I think you had said it was too acidic so you would cut the vinegar down, did you? The other thing you could do is add the sugar back that’s in the original recipe. Hope it worked out. Have a great weekend.
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Actually, after a month or two of cogitating, I remade the recipe using 4 huge vidalias, reducing the vinegar to a splash of balsamic and the heat to medium, cooked it for almost an hour and it was perfect. I’ll make a real post about the pizza some time today (the nephew and I are having a day out shortly) and include a picture of the caramelized onions I used.
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That’s great Maria, hope you have a great time with your nephew.
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I can’t wait to give this a try, Eva. I bet it would make a great bruschetta with a certain bread that you and I bake. Well, to be honest, it would be good on Wonder Bread. I can’t imagine it not being good on just about anything. 🙂
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So true, John, it would be amazing on the cheese bread (coincidentally, I am making 2 loaves tonight but I will allow them to proof for the second proofing in the refrigerator; the first loaf I shall bake tomorrow, and the second one on Sunday). This time my cheese combo is gruyère, pecorino and parmesan; spread with the confit, it may even taste like French onion soup!
Have a great weekend.
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This looks fantastic! I think I could probably just eat it as-is too. 😉 I’ll have to give this a try sometime. It sounds especially good with a fig and goat cheese pizza. Yum!
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I’ve been making it regularly since 2008, so it is indeed a keeper in my household. Have a great weekend.
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These remind me of the onions in French onion soup.
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Coincidentally, Sharyn, that is exactly what I made this batch of confit for, sadly the stock did not work out this time and I didn’t have any store bought on hand. I changed the first course to a salad of crumbled blue cheese, onion confit on a bed of greens, drizzled with a balsamic reduction. I also used Chgo John’s cheese bread croutons with it; mmmmmmmmmmm! It was indeed quite tasty. Have a great weekend.
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