Yield: 4 Servings

Gordon Hammersley / Fine Cooking issue 23

This is a great side dish for braised or roasted meats.

• 4medium onions
• 2TBS olive oil
• 1½cups dry white wine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2sprigs fresh thyme
• ⅔cup dry breadcrumbs
• ½cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• ¼lb prosciutto, coarsely chopped
• 2TBS heavy cream
• 1½tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1TBS chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the oven to 425°F. Slice off the top quarter of the onions. Peel them and trim the bottoms just enough to make them sit flat.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based ovenproof skillet until hot. Put the onions, cut side down, into the pan and cook just the cut side until well browned, about 5 min. Take the pan off the heat. Turn the onions cut side up and pour the wine over them. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Add the thyme sprigs to the pan and bake the onions until just tender when poked with a knife, about 1 hour.

Remove the onions from the skillet (reserving the liquid in the pan) and let them cool slightly. With a spoon, scoop out the inside of each onion, leaving a rim 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (about two layers of onion). Chop enough of the scooped-out onion to make about 1/3 cup.

In a medium bowl, mix the chopped onion with the breadcrumbs, Parmigiano, prosciutto, cream, chopped thyme, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the filling among the hollowed onions, return the onions to the skillet with the liquid, and put the skillet back in the oven. Bake until the onions are very tender and the filling is hot, about 20 minutes. Serve with some of the pan juices spooned over the onions.