Fancy Shmancy Baked Chard Stuffed Onions

Adapted from a cookbook called Flavoring with Herbs, this is a great recipe for stuffed onions, but ONLY if you really like onions. The presentation of them is amazing, and they can be used as a side dish to any main course, or as a vegetarian main dish (that's what we do!)

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

• 8  medium onions, unpeeled
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 12  ounces swiss chard, steamed, squeezed dry, chopped
• 1  garlic clove, crushed
• 2  tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 3  ounces pine nuts, toasted and chopped
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1⁄4 cups  vegetable stock
•  salt, to taste
•  pepper, to taste
•  bechamel sauce
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1  cup milk

Directions

1. Place unpeeled onions in a pan, cover with water and boil for ten minutes or until tender, remove from water and cool.
2. Trim off the root of the onion and save, peel off the outer skin of the onion.
3. Using a spoon, hallow out the center of the onion so that there are only two outter layers left.
4. Chop the insides of the onions and reserve.
5. Over medium heat, heat the butter and cook the sage, chard, and garlic.
6. Remove from heat and mix with the chopped onions and the pine nuts.
7. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
8. For Sauce: heat the butter over medium heat and gradually stir in flour until it is absorbed.
9. Gradually add the milk a little at a time, bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer until the sauce thickens.
10. Add the Parmesan to the sauce, and then mix it in with the chard mix.
11. Stuff the onion cases with the herb and sauce mix.
12. Arrange onions in a greased 9X13" oven safe baking dish and add the vegetable stock and any of the left over stuffing to the dish around the onions.
13. Top the onions with the reserved root "caps" and heat in the oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
14. Upon serving, spoon the vegetable broth mixture over the onions.
15. Enjoy!