Sweet and Sour Roasted Onions

Submitted by -Sylvie-

"I have adapted this from a Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall recipe posted in the Guardian Weekend Magazine. These onions are unbelievably good if I may say so and make a fabulous side dish to go with most fish or meats. They even taste great cold. The original recipe calls for celery, I have added it as an optional ingredient as I have left it out myself when I made this, because I'm not very keen on it."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb small red onions or 1 lb shallot, peeled and cut in halve
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste (puree in the UK)
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons light muscovado sugar
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

directions

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.
2. Put your onions in an oven dish that will fit them neatly in one layer. You might want to line the dish with baking paper, as the sauce will caramelise, which can make it quite a pain to clean.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the celery over medium heat until soft, for about 5 minutes. If you're not using any celery, just start with the next step, but shorten the frying time to two minutes.
4. Add the garlic and sauté for a further five minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and add all the other ingredients, apart from the onions and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Season liberally with salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the onions.
7. Mix well until all the onions are coated evenly.
8. Place in your oven and roast for about one hour, stirring once halfway through.
9. You might want to check after 45 minutes, the onions are done, when they are soft and caramelised. The time depends a bit on their size.