Long Red Florence
/Red Florence Onions
I’m so smitten with these onions, the leather jacket wearing bikers of the onion world. I didn’t know about them until my CSA last year with Growing Lots, and I’m permanently changed now. An Italian heirloom onion, we are really the winners here, getting this tiny red gem: more elongated than a typical onion, a little similar to a shallot in size, but packing a sweet and funky punch to anything they come across. We got these a lot through our season with Growing Lots, and I liked how the flavor changed slightly as we went further into the season--going from tender and mild to a spicier sweetness as the weather wore on.
The standalone taste in these onions is really helpful in dictating preparation, from raw to cooked. Depending on what flavors you’re wanting to tease out of them, these little bad boys are perfect, whether thrown on the grill whole or just sliced raw into salads. They make an easy accompaniment to roasted chicken (if you feel like turning on your oven) and root vegetables. The tops can even be chopped as a garnish for soups or added to pestos for a little kick!
Some Red Florence Onion Recipes
Onion Top and Arugula (or whatever greens!) Pesto
Ingredients:
¼ cup arugula (or whatever green you’d like--we’ve even done purslane and it’s pretty good)
3 tablespoons onion tops, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic
3 tablespoons of walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, or whatever nut or seed you like
Optionally, you can add ⅓ cup of grated cheese such as parmesan or pecorino
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red chili flake
Method:
Place the arugula, onion tops, garlic, salt, and chili flake in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse everything a few times until it’s looking pretty roughly chopped, then add your cheese and nuts or seeds and pulse it a few more times until it’s very roughly combined. Turn the food processor on and slowly drizzle olive oil in until a desired texture is achieved--you can either drizzle it in quickly and go with a chunkier pesto, or you can let it go a little longer for a smoother texture.
This pesto is perfect folded into pasta with fresh tomatoes, or spread onto flatbread with a little goat cheese (or also some fresh tomatoes). You can dazzle it up with some more herbs that you might have around, like parsley, basil, mint, or cilantro, depending on what you’re feeling!
Charred Onion and Tomato Compote
Ingredients:
1 pound onion, tops and bottoms trimmed but left whole, tops reserved for a later use
½ pound cherry tomatoes, stemmed
9 tablespoons of oil, divided into 3 tablespoons and approx. ⅓ cup
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
The peel of an orange or lemon, and a squeeze of their respective juice, if you would like
Torn herbs that you might have on hand (basil and mint are nice here)
Method:
Begin by tossing the onions and tomatoes in the three tablespoons of olive oil. You’ll char them either by grilling them nicely until they are caramelized on mostly all sides, or by broiling the vegetables until they have a nice char on the outside. That char is key here, since the bitterness will lend itself nicely to these otherwise sweet vegetables!
Once everything is charred, place the vegetables in a bowl, add your torn herbs, and cover it tightly with plastic wrap until they are room temperature. In the meantime, warm the vinegar, sugar, salt, and orange peel in a small pot until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Pour this mixture into the bowl of vegetables and herbs, then stir in the rest of the oil. Keep in the fridge in a little jar and enjoy over toast, cheese, or stirred in with grilled or roasted vegetables!
Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Ingredients:
1 pound onions, ends trimmed and then cut into quarters
2 pounds tri-color carrots, ends trimmed and then halved
1 pound turnips, ends trimmed and then quartered
1 pound beets, peeled, ends trimmed, and then quartered
1 pound peppers, julienned
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and sliced
⅓ cup of oil
1 tablespoon of salt
½ tablespoon of pepper
1 teaspoon coriander, ground
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
Method:
This is a pretty simple one. Preheat your oven to about 375 degrees. Prepare your vegetables as intended (you definitely don’t need to go with my recommendations--just whatever feels good and ends up making them a similar size), oil them and toss them in the salt, pepper, herbs, lemon zest, juice, and spices--I usually save the mustard until the end and then toss that into the warm vegetable mixture for a little bit of textural pop.
Roast your vegetables until they are tender and caramelized, approximately 30 minutes but maybe a little bit more depending on how hot your oven runs. Once everything is fork tender, stir everything up with the mustard, and serve warm or cold with dressed greens or any prepared grains like farro, quinoa, or couscous.
Bread-and-Butter-esque Pickled Vegetables
Ingredients:
½ pound onions, julienned
3 carrots, sliced thinly
2 red peppers, julienned
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
¾ cups of water
¼ cup of sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
Method:
Slice up your onions, carrots, peppers, and garlic, and fit them tightly into a glass mason jar. Bring the rest of the ingredients up to a boil and pour the boiling hot brine over top of the vegetables. The brine should completely cover the vegetables. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight. This is so delicious over sandwiches or mixed into salads and can be more easily customized with what’s in season (green beans, hello!), as well!
writing credit: Sadie Sayre. CSA member
