The news that Lynne Rossetto Kasper was selling off some of her accumulation of cooking-related items made me remember how much I enjoyed her show/column. So I dusted off this one for old-time sake.
Provencal onion oven saute
From "The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories and Opinions" by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Zest of 1 orange
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
5 to 6 anchovy fillets
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 large red onions, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 fresh tomato, chopped (or 2 canned)
½ cup chopped kalamata olives
Juice of 1 lemon
Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with tin foil; a half sheet works well so you can get things closer to a single layer.
Combine olive oil, vinegar, orange zest, fennel seed, anchovies and garlic in a large bowl. Toss with onions, tomatoes and kalamatas. Spread on prepared baking sheet and bake until onions pick up color but still have a bit of crunch. The recipe suggested 15-20 minutes; in my oven I found it took closer to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Serve over cooked pasta, grains or as a topping on bread. It you opt for pasta, you'll probably want to toss in some of the pasta cooking liquid to make it a tad more saucy.
Rating: Pleasantly piquant. Just a nice combo of different flavors with no one being overly assertive, adding up to a greater hole. We opted to serve it over penne, but I could certainly see serving over quinoa or couscous, or on bread, especially if one did a layer of ricotta on the bread first. I had sliced the onions in advance so it came together pretty quickly as a supper. Perfectly simple, yet splendid.
And if you serve it in the bowl you tossed the onions and dressing in, it's reasonably sparing of dishes, which I'm appreciating right now because a dishwasher seal is on order.
