Onions stuffed with tuna, an Asturian recipe with French origins

Total: 1 h 55 min Diners: 3

This recipe for stuffed onions is the perfect dish to pay tribute to one of the best ingredients in the world and, by the way, one of the most consumed in Spain: onions.

Garnish, complement and main base of all the sofritos ever, with today’s preparation they go from being a mere secondary ingredient, but not less important, to a fundamental component of the preparation. It is well known how much we love stuffing things: eggplants, pumpkins, pasta, pizza, chicken breasts or omelettes, are a regular and great acquaintances of our recipe book.

They give that special touch and, with some exceptions, it never hurts to stuff things (David de Jorge, who defends the classic potato omelette, with onion of course, will surely panic when he reads this), so the onions stuffed with tuna that we are going to make today will surely delight you.

How? Stuffed onions? We know they are not a regular in our everyday kitchens, but the truth is that, especially in northern Spain, they are very well known. They even have their own national holiday on November 30! In Entrego, Asturias, since 1972 all the houses are filled with a succulent smell of onion and become a meeting point for friends and family, although its history dates back to 1927. Back then, the trend of stuffing onions came from France (and used to be made with meat), but Aniceta Fueyo, nicknamed La Nina, created this acclaimed dish to this day.

Like so many other great recipes, the idea was born in a situation of necessity, when on Good Friday, vigil Friday, Aniceta realized she had nothing else in the pantry but onions and bonito. It occurred to her to fuse and stew in a delicate and succulent sauce based on the remaining onion, a clove of garlic and a butt of red bell pepper. Without wanting it or drinking it, he had created a dish that would reach the rank of National Gastronomic Festival.

The ideal is to have a Parisian spoon (aka round spoon with teeth for emptying food) to be able to perfectly empty the onions. And, armed with the bravery of a warrior (crying a lot, of course), empty the whole inside until only a thin sheet of onion layer remains. You have to go little by little and be careful not to overdo it because, if you do, it will spoil. Once this is done, just like La Nina, it is enough to fill them with the ingredients we have on hand. Gastronomic and survival cuisine in equal parts.

How to make onions stuffed with bonito

Ingredients

. Onions, 3 pc Egg, 1 pc Red bell pepper, 1/2 pc Bonito in olive oil (drained), 2 cans Garlic cloves, 2 pc Fried tomato, 2 tablespoons White wine, 100 ml Fish broth, 500 ml Salt, c/s Ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon Extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons

Step 1

Put water to boil in a saucepan. When it is boiling add an egg and count 9-10 minutes. Remove to water and ice to cut cooking.

Step 2

Pour the onions carefully so that they do not break until there is barely “meat” left next to the first layer. Set aside.

Step 3

Drain the bonito in oil and mix with the tomato and the chopped hard-boiled egg (white and yolk). Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Step 4

Chop a garlic very small. Sauté, from cold oil, over low heat in a frying pan until golden brown. Stir in the chopped red bell pepper and the remaining onion from emptying them. Cook slowly for 30 minutes until well poached. Then pour the glass of white wine and evaporate the alcohol. Add the fish stock and/or water and reduce slightly. Mash the sauce and return it to the pan with a little water.

Step 5

Stuff the onions with the tuna, hard-boiled egg and tomato mixture until they are completely full.

Step 6

Place the stuffed onions in the pan with the sauce, cover and cook over low heat for 45 min – 1 hour. Every 10 minutes we must move the pan and watch that the sauce does not dry out. If necessary, add a little more broth, we did it three times because it is consuming a lot.