Tasty Thursday #11

Hosted by Trista at The Pumkin Patch.

Today's edition is side dishes.

This is sometimes my hardest part of a meal. I tend to get in a rut and fix the same sides over and over. My hubby recently asked if I knew there were other veggies besides green beans!!! That seems to be a side that goes with most meals, and the kids love them, so we have them frequently.

But I've been trying to step out and make some things differently. Like the other night, I made roasted asparagus - YUM! I loved it. Hubby, well, he ate it, but it's not his favorite!

OK, so on to a side recipe for today.
When my parent's were here a couple weeks ago, the brought us some vidalia onions. So, I decided to make a vidalia onion pie. I searched the net for a recipe. I found several versions and went with one.

I didn't have time to make a pie crust, and I didn't have one on hand. Some of the recipes instructed to use crushed crackers, such as Ritz, for the crust. I didn't have any on hand, but I had some sesame crackers and used those. They worked fine. But I would like to try this with a real pie crust some time.

This was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD! It will definitely be making another appearance on our menu soon!

I am going to list the recipe for the pie crust at the end, but I haven't actually tried that part, so it's not really a tried-and-true. But the rest of the recipe is! I will include the recipe for the way I made the crust.

Vidalia Onion Pie

For Crust:
1 cup buttery cracker crumbs
1/2 stick butter, melted

Combine and press into a greased 9-inch pie plate.

For Filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 pounds Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of paprika
Freshly grated Parmesan - (I used about a cup), divided

Over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until translucent. So not brown. Combine eggs, sour cream, flour and half the cheese. Add onions. Season with salt, pepper and paprika and pour into crust. Top with remaining Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees for the last 20 minutes or until center is set.

{I forgot to lower the oven, as I had something else cooking at the same time, and it was fine. Also, I saw some recipes that used different cheeses, such as cheddar - you could try it with your favorite and it would probably be yummy too!}

The onions become quite sweet and this is just absolutely wonderful!!


Now for the pie crust recipe that I haven't actually tried:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
cold water

1/4 egg yolk and 1 tsp. water for egg wash

All ingredients should be cold. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop, add cold water. Mix in with the fingertips, not with the hands as the palms will warm the dough. Continue mixing water in until the dough begins to hold together without being sticky but not crumbly. Place dough in plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap and press down to form a disk. This will make rolling out easier after chilling. Finish wrapping in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Lightly spray a deep 9-inch pie pan or an 8 1/2 inch fluted flan pan. Roll out dough and place in pie plate Return to the refrigerator until filling is ready.

Brush egg wash on the inside of pie crust. Return to refrigerator until filling is ready.


Now be sure to head over to Trista's to see other great side dish recipes, or better yet, add your own!!!