I will admit – I am a sucker for onions. All kinds of onions. Shallots, spring onions, scallions, ramps, red onions, white onions...you name it, I'll cook it up somehow and eat it. I have never, however, cooked with a Purple Spring Onion before. I've seen them in the grocery store, but for some reason, I have never thought to try cooking with them. When I received them in the CSA this week, I knew they were going to be the first thing I cooked.
I started looking up some recipes for inspiration, and I came across one on Epicurious which creates a beautiful green onion purée to fold into a lovely risotto at the end of cooking.
I found that the inner bulbs of the purple spring onion were quite tough. I thought caramelizing them for 30 or 40 minutes would soften them up (and some of them did soften up and were very good), but some of them just became very hard so I discarded the ones that I felt were inedible. I opted to use the onion oil I created while caramelizing the bulbs for the shrimp so as not to waste any of the flavor. If you do cook spring onions this way, definitely eat the ones that become tender and sweet. (And let me know what I did wrong if you don't have any that are tough and hard to chew through!)
This is such an elegant recipe and could easily serve a crowd (with or without shrimp)!
Ingredients (Serves 2, with plenty of leftover risotto)
4 medium purple Spring onions
1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
4-5 cups of chicken stock
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
14 large shrimp, deveined with shells on
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
4 tablespoons of butter, divided
1 small scallion, optional for garnish
Prep Your Ingredients: Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Trim the greens from the purple spring onions. Chop the green parts into 1 inch pieces. Find the smallest bulb from the onions and mince (You should have between a 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup minced onion). Cut the other bulbs in half (leave a bit of the root at the bottom so that the onion halves stay together). Juice the lemon. Pat the shrimp dry and season well with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. Thinly slice the scallion on a bias if using.
Make the Onion Purée: Add all the onion greens to the boiling water and boil until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water. Add to a food processor with the extra virgin olive oil and blend until smooth, adding water as necessary to create a smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add to a small bowl and set aside. (You may have extra purée left over but you should have at least 1 cup of purée.)
Return the pot to the stove and add the chicken stock to the pot and heat over medium low heat. (Keep this near the burner you plan to the cook the risotto on!)
Caramelize the Onions: In a heavy skillet, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the bulbs, cut side down. Season with salt. It will take about 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the onions and turn as necessary to keep them from burning.
Make the Risotto: While the onions are caramelizing, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced onion and cook very quickly until translucent, about 1 minute. Add the arborio rice and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for about 3 minutes until glazed. You will hear slight cracking and popping in the pan. Add a ladle of warm stock to to the rice. You will make the risotto by slowly adding a ladle of stock, stirring it, allowing it to absorb, and then repeat with another ladle of stock until all the stock has been incorporated. Be patient. This takes about 20-30 minutes. The risotto is done once it is creamy but not overcooked. The rice will still be al dente and have a bit of chew to it, but it will have a luxuriously rich coating. Once this has happened, reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Fold in 2 tablespoons of butter and the mascarpone cheese. Once the cheese and butter have melted, stir in as much of the onion purée as you like. I used about 1 cup, just enough to give the risotto a lovely onion flavor and turn the risotto a really nice green color. Turn off the heat and keep warm.
Make the Shrimp: Remove the onion bulbs from the skillet. If you have any that are soft and edible, feel free to serve them with your dinner. If all of the bulbs are too tough to eat, discard them. Keep the onion oil in the skillet. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the oil and heat over medium high until the butter is frothy and beginning to brown. Add the shrimp. Do not overcrowd; cook them in batches if need be. Cook for about a minute and a half per side. The shrimps should be opaque and should have just turned into a slight C shape. (Don't let them spiral! They're overcooked once they spiral!)
Plate it Up: Spoon the risotto into two bowls and top with shrimp and caramelized bulbs (optional!). Top with sliced scallion if using. Enjoy!