Stuffed Onions with Tomato Sauce

Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

9 large onions (8 whole & 1 peeled and grated)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

750g beef mince

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp allspice, ground

½ tsp cinnamon, ground

1 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 large tomatoes, peeled and grated

1 cup medium-grain rice

Tomato Sauce

400g tin crushed tomatoes 

2 tsp good-quality tomato paste

⅓ cup olive oil

Pinch salt

Pinch of pepper

1L stock or water

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add 1 tsp of the salt.

Clean the 8 whole onions by removing the brown layers of skin. Place into the boiling water for about 30 minutes, until just cooked. Remove onions from water with a slotted spoon. Keep the remaining cooking water and set the onions aside.

Sauté the grated onion in the olive oil, then add the beef mince and gently brown. Add the remaining salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, and parsley. Stir to combine, then add the grated tomatoes, rice and about 1½ cups of the onion water.

Using a sharp knife, cut the onions from top to bottom, only as far as the centre, and not all the way through. Carefully peel off the layers one by one, then place each layer on a tray to cool. Once this is done, fill each layer of onion. Open each layer gently, fill with the meat mixture, then close it by tucking one edge into the other and squeezing together. It should look like an almond, with a point at each end. Repeat with all the layers of onion, carefully laying them in a baking dish as you go.

Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, mixing, and pouring it over the onions, which have been neatly tucked together in the baking dish. Drizzle some more olive oil on top and then cover with baking paper and foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Then remove the paper and foil and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes to develop some colour.