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coarse sea salt onions pistachios orange ground cloves ground cinnamon aniseeds white figs black Sicilian red wine vinegar extra-virgin olive oil
Viewed: 53 - Published at: 7 years agoIngredients
- 3 cups coarse sea salt
- 6 firm, unblemished, purple-skinned onions of uniform size
- 3/4 cup shelled pistachios
- Zest and juice of 1 large orange
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons aniseeds
- 3 large dried white figs
- 12 ounces black Sicilian, Greek, or Spanish olives, lightly crushed with a mallet, stones removed
- 1 tablespoon good red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Spread the sea salt over a shallow ceramic or terra-cotta casserole just large enough to hold the onions without crowding them.
- Place the onions on top and roast for approximately 40 to 50 minutes, depending upon their size, or until they are very easily penetrated with a thin, sharp knife.
- It is better to err on the side of underroasting so that the onions maintain their shape.
- Too long a stay in the oven will lead to their total, graceless collapse.
- Remove the onions from the oven and, with tongs, carefully transfer them from their salt bed to a cutting board.
- Cut them in two, smear one half of each with a generous spoonful of the pesto and place the halves together.
- The onions may be served immediatelyeven reheated for a minute or two in the still-warm ovenor served warm or cool as a starter course or as accompaniment to grilled or roasted meat or fish.
- In a small saute pan over a lively flame, dry-roast the pistachios, tossing them about, until they begin to take on some color; lower the flame a bit and add the orange zest, the cloves, the cinnamon, and the aniseeds, stirring the elements together, permitting the zest and the seeds to roast a bit with the nuts and the ground spices.
- Keep it moving constantly.
- After a minute or so, the scents will come up sharp and sweet.
- Remove the pan from the flame.
- Snip the figs into quarters with kitchen shears and place them in a small saucepan with the juice of the orange, heating them gently together.
- When the liquid approaches a simmer, remove the pan from the flame, cover it, and permit the figs to plump in the warm juice for 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process all the ingredients except the oil to a coarse paste.
- With the machine running, drop in the olive oil in a very thin stream until the sauce is emulsified.
