Today we are making stuffed onions! Traditionally in Cyprus, we fill onions with rice and mincemeat, but today I chose to use 2 other staple ingredients of the Cypriot cuisine, bulgur and lentils, and they turned out wholesome and delicious!
Ingredients
- 120 g brown lentils
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 large onions
- 1 carrot
- 2 baby potatoes (optional)
- 1/4 of a parsley bunch
- 70 g bulgur
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- 1/3 tsp of each cinnamon, smoked paprika, sumac, chili flakes
- 30 ml olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 600 ml veggie stock
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the lentils, then place them in a pot, cover with water, add the bay leaf, a generous pinch of salt and boil them for 30min.
- Cut the sides of each onion, then peel the outer skin and cut them slightly (check video for reference). Place them in a large pot, cover with water, bring them to boil and cook them for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the veggies, peel and grate the carrot, peel and cut the potatoes, chop the parsley.
- Drain the onions, and set them aside to cool down a bit.
- Once the lentils are cooked drain them and put them in a large mixing bowl, along with the carrots, parsley, bulgur, tomato paste, all the spices, salt and pepper, the olive oil and mix well.
- Carefully peel 4-5 layers from each onion and put them aside.
- Chop 1-2 of the onion hearts and add them into the lentil filling and combine.
- The other 2 onion hearts, cut them in the middle, place them in a bowl with the potatoes, season with salt, pepper and oregano and set them aside.
- Fill each onion layer with 2-3 tablespoons of the filling, then roll them and place them in a baking tray.
- Continue until you have used all the onion layers. If you have any leftover filling, spread it in the baking tray.
- Add the potatoes and onions, that we cut and seasoned earlier, in the baking tray, to fill any gaps.
- Mix 600ml of veggie stock with 2 tablespoon of tomato paste, and cover the onions and potatoes.
- Cover with foil and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40minutes, then remove the foil, turn the potatoes and onions carefully and cook for another 30-40 minutes.
- I like to serve them with hummus and salad
- You can also reduce the cooking time by using ready cooked lentils.
- The potatoes are optional, but I like to add them to fill the gaps.
- You can substitute bulgur for quinoa, to make it gluten free.