David Tanis Market Cooking

The humble onion—life in the kitchen without it is unimaginable. It’s comforting to remember that, in any season, an onion is standing by, like a steadfast friend; practically every dish benefits by association. Peeling and dicing onions is a meditative ritual, tears and all, and one that most cooks perform on a daily basis.

Onions come in every shape, color, and size, from tiny pearl onions to hefty, flat Bermudas. There are petite “boiling onions” and fat-bulbed fresh spring onions, perfect for grilling or roasting. Red, yellow, or white, they are at their best and juiciest when freshly harvested. They look pretty, pristine, and dewy at the farmers’ market bunched with their tender green tops. Walla Walla sweets are ideal for slicing and eating raw. Likewise, some Southern folk say Vidalia onions are as crisp and sweet as apples. Elongated red torpedo onions, originally from the Calabrian town of Tropea, are a great multipurpose variety favored all over Italy. They make cute diminutive onion rings too.

You’ll want to make onion tarts and pickled onions, or sweet-and-sour spiced onions for an antipasto. Any type of onion, thickly sliced and grilled or broiled until slightly charred, can accompany whatever you happen to be serving—meat, fish, or lentil salad. A whole long-cooked onion, baked in an oven or in glowing embers until utterly soft, can make a meal on its own, lavished with olive oil and sea salt, perhaps with a drop of sweet vinegar.

Keep a bag of onions in the pantry at all times and hunger will be kept at bay—one way or another.

Onion and Bacon Tart

An onion tart is a beautiful way to show off the bulb’s many virtues. A classic example is this pizza-like tarte flambée or Flammeküche. An Alsatian specialty, it has only a few ingredients: onions, crème fraîche, fromage blanc, and bacon. Originally it was a frugal treat on bread-baking day, made from a scrap of bread dough and baked on the stone floor of the village’s communal wood-fired oven.

To make the dough, pour the water into a medium bowl and stir in the yeast. Stir in ¼ cup of the flour and let the mixture get bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes. (You can made the dough with a stand mixer if you like.)

Add the salt, melted butter, and the remaining 1 ¼ cups flour and stir until the dough forms a rough ball. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth. Cover the dough with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Or transfer the dough to a zippered plastic bag and let rise in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight.)

To make the topping, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the caraway seeds and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Let cool to room temperature.

Put the bacon in a small pan and cover with 1 inch of water. Simmer for 2 minutes, then drain and cool.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Punch down the dough, transfer to a lightly floured surface, and knead into a smooth ball. Let relax for a few minutes.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet lined with parchment. Stretch the dough to an elongated oval about 11 inches by 15 inches.

Mix the ricotta with half the crème fraîche and dab spoonfuls of the mixture evenly over the dough. Spread the cooked onions over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around. Top with the bacon, scattering it evenly. Drizzle the tart with the remaining crème fraîche. (Beating the crème fraîche with a fork should loosen it enough for drizzling; otherwise, thin with a little milk.)

Bake the tart for 30 to 35 minutes, turning the baking sheet around if necessary for even cooking, until the crust is well browned. Cool on a rack for a few minutes and serve warm, or let cool and serve at room temperature. Makes 4 to 6 servings

Building an irresistible onion tart.

For a tart with a Provençal inflection, replace the ricotta with soft goat cheese, the caraway with chopped thyme, and the bacon with olives. Garnish with strips of anchovy fillet if you wish.

Venetian Onions

This is a classic sweet-and-sour dish of small onions braised in wine with spices, raisins, and pine nuts. Every one of these ingredients but the onion was once considered extravagant.

Peel a pound of cipollini or boiling onions. Put them in a pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and season generously with salt and pepper. Crumble a pinch of saffron and mix it into 1 cup dry white wine to harness its flavor and color, then add this to the onions and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in a half teaspoon each of cinnamon, coriander, dried ginger, and cloves. Add ½ cup golden raisins, ½ cup currants, ½ cup packed brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, then add water to barely cover and put on the lid. Simmer very gently for 30 to 40 minutes, until the onions are soft.

Remove the lid and turn up the heat. Reduce the cooking liquid until it is syrupy and coats the onions like a glaze. Serve at room temperature, with a few lightly toasted pine nuts sprinkled over the top. Makes 4 servings

Lebanese Kibbeh with Caramelized Onions

The best part is the sweet, darkly caramelized onion topping.

Kibbeh, made with spiced ground lamb or beef and bulgur, are little fried football-shaped savory treats eaten throughout the Middle East. This extraordinarily fragrant family-style version is baked and can be eaten hot, warm, or cold.

Rinse the bulgur well, put in a bowl, cover with cold water, and soak for 20 minutes. Drain well.

Put the drained bulgur, lamb, grated onion, cumin, and cayenne in a large bowl. Add 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and mix well with your hands to distribute the seasoning. With a wooden spoon, beat in the ice water. The mixture should be smooth and soft.

Heat the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and fry gently, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Raise the heat, add ¼ cup of the lamb mixture, and fry until the meat is crumbly and the onions are nicely browned, another 10 minutes or so. Stir in the pine nuts and taste for seasoning. Let cool to room temperature.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, then press half the remaining lamb mixture evenly over the bottom. Spread half the onion mixture over the meat. Add the rest of the meat to the pan, pressing with wet hands to make a smooth top. Score with a sharp paring knife to make a diamond pattern, cutting at least ½ inch deep.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden. Spread the top with the remaining onion–pine nut mixture. Serve in squares, with a dollop of yogurt alongside. Makes 4 to 6 servings

Spicy Buttermilk Onion Rings

Buttermilk is a miraculous ingredient that renders fried food crisp and flaky.

Deep-frying at home may seem like a messy task, but you’ll be surprised by how easy, and how delectable, homemade onion rings are. A quick dip in a buttermilk bath and a light dusting of flour gives you just enough coating to yield a crisp, flaky crust. Banish any fast-food memories; these onion rings are really superior. This flour-and-buttermilk technique works well for just about anything else you might want to fry—and why not, while the oil’s hot? A cast-iron pan works fine, but an old Italian cook I know swears by an electric skillet, and her fried food is spectacular.

Use small onions—red, white, or yellow—so the rings aren’t unwieldy. Peel 2 onions and cut them into ¼-inch slices. Separate each slice into rings, put the rings in a bowl, and cover them with buttermilk. Put 1 cup all-purpose flour in a bowl. Season the flour with salt, pepper, and a bit of cayenne. Pour about an inch of vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat the oil to 350 degrees; adjust the heat as necessary to keep the temperature steady.

Take one ring from the buttermilk, dip it quickly into the flour mixture, and carefully slip it into the oil. Add more coated onion rings, without crowding the pan, and fry for a minute or so on each side, just until golden. Remove the rings from the oil with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle the warm onion rings lightly with salt. Repeat with the remaining onion rings. Pass them to nibble with drinks or serve to accompany a meal.

If you want to make a larger quantity, you can stockpile the fried rings in a low oven, on a rack on a baking sheet, while you fry more. But the truth is, it’s best to serve them as soon as they are ready so the rings don’t get soggy. Makes 4 servings

Red Onion Soup with Cheese Toasts

This homemade version is far better than the kind served in tourist traps, bubbling with molten cheese.

Onion soup is an excellent antidote to blustery, cold weather. Though often made with beef broth, Jacques Pépin showed me this frugal version, made with onions and plain tap water (his mother made it that way, he said). His wise counsel: Don’t overcrowd the pan, or the onions won’t brown. Keep the heat high but not too high, so the onions don’t cook too fast and burn. Be generous with the salt and pepper. Bay leaf and thyme are essential, everything else is negotiable. A little red wine is welcome, a splash of Cognac couldn’t hurt.

Set two wide skillets over medium-high heat (if you have only one pan, work in smaller batches). When the pans are hot, put 1 tablespoon oil and a large handful of the sliced onions in each pan. Season the onions generously with salt and pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they are a ruddy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the onions to a soup pot and return the pans to the heat. Pour ½ cup of the water into each pan to deglaze it, scraping with a wooden spoon to dissolve any brown bits, then pour the deglazing liquid into the soup pot. Wipe the pans clean and begin again with more oil and sliced onions. Continue until all the onions are browned.

Put the soup pot over high heat, add the wine, bay leaves, thyme, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes. Add 8 cups water and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove and discard the thyme. Skim off any surface fat, taste the soup, and adjust the seasoning. (The soup can be prepared to this point up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated; bring back to a simmer before proceeding.)

Meanwhile, make the cheese toasts: Heat the broiler. Place the toasted bread on a baking sheet. Mix the grated cheese with the chopped sage and thyme, along with a generous amount of pepper. Heap the cheese mixture on the toasts and broil until the cheese bubbles and browns slightly.