Best for: the holiday table — pearl onions browned in butter, braised in cream, and baked under cheese until the top goes golden.
This recipe comes from Corre Larkin (@cocolarkincooks), whose creamed onions stopped our scroll cold — and she is welcome to the credit, because the dish is entirely hers: frozen pearl onions (her smart shortcut — no peeling a hundred tiny onions) browned in butter with fresh thyme, dusted with flour, braised in beef demi-glace and heavy cream, then baked under grated cheese until the top caramelizes. It’s a classic holiday side with the volume turned up, and it belongs next to everything that comes off our grill. You can watch her make it right here, and her cookbook is Season to Taste.
Equipment: A large skillet and a small ovenproof baking dish. Course: Side dish.
Ingredients
about 30 minutes Total: about 40 minutes
- 2 pounds frozen peeled pearl onions, thawed and patted dry
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for the top
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup beef demi-glace (or rich beef stock)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Gruyère or Parmesan
Directions
Brown the onions. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pearl onions, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook, tossing now and then, until the onions take on golden-brown spots, 8 to 10 minutes.
Dust with flour. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir for about a minute, until every onion is lightly coated — this is what will body the sauce.
Add the demi-glace. Pour in the beef demi-glace and stir, scraping up the browned bits from the pan as it bubbles.
Cream it. Pour in the heavy cream and simmer gently for 3 to 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the onions.
Top with cheese. Transfer everything to a small ovenproof baking dish, scatter the grated cheese and a few more thyme leaves over the top.
Bake until golden. Bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden and caramelized at the edges and the sauce bubbles. Rest a few minutes and serve hot.
Serving note: For a vegetarian table, swap the beef demi-glace for a rich vegetable stock — her readers asked, and the dish takes the swap gracefully.
