Roasted Stuffed Onions with Red Pepper Purée

This recipe is courtesy of FoodCycle, a charity working to reduce food waste and food poverty in communities across the UK by serving healthy, meat-free meals for people in need. They collect fresh fruit and veg that would otherwise be thrown away and cook these ingredients into nutritious three-course meals. Find out more at www.foodcycle.org.uk and get involved! Roasted Stuffed Onions with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Purée Recipe Type : Vegan option Author: FoodCycle Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hour Serves: 6 What to do with a glut of onions? Well, why not try this recipe, as cooked using surplus ingredients at a FoodCycle pop up restaurant fundraiser by the team from Pie in the Sky Community Café. Ingredients FOR THE ONIONS AND STUFFING: 6 medium/large onions (red, yellow, white, or sweet) 1 medium sized courgette 2 leeks 250 g mushrooms (any kind – chestnut, button, field) 50 g fresh parsley 2 teaspoon smoked paprika salt and pepper, to taste 4 cloves of garlic 50 g butter olive oil handful of black onion seeds 200 g strong cheese – we recommend Stilton. Vegan cheese may also be used. FOR THE PURÉE: 5-6 red/orange/yellow bell peppers 1 whole bulb of garlic olive oil salt and pepper, to taste Instructions FOR THE ONIONS: Chop the ends of the onions off, making sure to take off as little as possible and remove the skin of the onions, making sure that the outer layers of the onion remain intact. Using a small knife, begin to carve out the inner layers of the onions – be sure to leave the outer 1-2 layers untouched. Once you have carved out a bit, use a small spoon to scoop out as much of the centre layers as possible, creating a nice hollow onion shell – make sure to keep one base end untouched. Put all scooped out onion aside (this will be used for the stuffing). Coat a large roasting tin with olive oil and toss the onion shells until they are coated. Neatly place all onion shells with the base end down, on the roasting tin and season with salt, pepper and the smoked paprika. Roast in the oven (approx. 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6) for 20 minutes. At this stage rotate the onions so that all sides get roasted evenly and then dot the roasting tin and the onions with small knobs of butter. Finish roasting onions for another 20 minutes. They will be finished when they are soft to touch, golden brown all around, but still holding their shape. Once done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before serving. FOR THE STUFFING: Chop courgettes, leeks and mushrooms into small squares. Dice up the onions you set aside earlier, as small as possible. Mince the garlic cloves. Prepare the parsley for garnish – dice up the stalks and add to the stuffing mix. In a large saucepan, sauté the onions until they are soft then add in the garlic for a few more minutes. Add in the courgettes and leeks and cook for a few minutes. Add in the mushrooms and season with salt, pepper and the smoked paprika. Cook it all down until soft, thick and well combined and remove from the heat. Gently spoon the stuffing into the onion shells, being sure to not tear the onions. Neatly place the stuffed onions back into roasting tray, crumble over the cheese and put into the oven to heat through and allow the cheese to melt. The combination of the roasting juices, butter, and cheese will create a nice gravy at the bottom of the roasting tin – make sure you save this to use when plating up the dish! FOR THE PURÉE: Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Chop the peppers in half, discarding any seeds inside. Coat a large roasting tin with olive oil and toss the peppers in the oil, so that they are well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb of garlic in foil and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top, season with salt and pepper and place the bulb in the roasting tin with the peppers. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the peppers over to make sure all sides are roasted evenly. Roast for 20 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring all of the peppers and roasted garlic to a large bowl (to get the garlic out just squeeze the skins). Purée until smooth and then sieve if possible for a nice, silky texture. If the purée is too thick, add some hot water or stock to thin it out. If you sieve the purée, save the mulch that is left over and use it in the stuffing! 3.2.1230