Italian Stuffed Onions

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 4 medium onions or 4 large onions, peeled
• olive oil flavored cooking spray
• 1 -2 tablespoon butter, preferably unsalted
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced (i generally mince onions and garlic in my mini processor as it's so much easier than chopping)
• 1 large potato, coarsely grated
• sea salt, to taste
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme or 1/2 teaspoon thyme, to taste
• mixed italian herbs, to taste (optional, your choice, i add a blend of rosemary and sage which i really like)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional ( don't add lemon juice if you don't like citrus flavours!)
• 1 -2 cup baby spinach leaves, chopped (it's okay to include the stems)
• 125 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 3 large eggs, lightly whipped
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh parsley

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 200°c/400°f/6 gas mark.
• 2 cook the onions in plenty of rapidly simmering water for about 15 minutes; drain well, cut in half and scoop out about two-thirds of the centre; chop up the inner section of the onions (or mince them in a mini processor) and place the outer rings on a lightly oiled oven tray.
• 3 melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed, preferably non-stick, pan; add the onion and garlic and briefly sauté them until they are tender; add the grated potato and cook briefly until the potato has softened and started to crisp; sprinkle with salt, ground pepper and thyme, to taste; and add optional, additional herbs (if using).
• 4 add the lemon juice (if using), chopped baby spinach leaves and grated parmesan and mix well to cool a little.
• 5 then add the eggs and mix until the contents of the pan are well-combined, being careful not to scramble the eggs; check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
• 6 spoon the mixture into the onion rings, sprinkle with a little extra grated parmesan and cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden.
• 7 serve with a sprinkling of parsley on top, as an accompaniment to your favourite grilled or roasted meat dish or bbqd meat.