While browsing trending and viral recipe videos on social media, we stumbled upon an interesting dish. In one of the reels, they were making pasta with caramelized onions, garlic, cream cheese, paprika, sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic sauce, and parsley. Since we had all these ingredients, the dish in the video looked really appetizing, and the description lacked a complete list of products and processes (phew, what a loooong sentence of arguments) β we decided to cook it at home and share a step-by-step recipe. As always, with timing, difficulty, and our own photos.
Time spent: about 1 hour
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Cost: average
We will need:
For 4 full servings, the ingredient set will look as follows:
5 medium-sized onions (we used yellow, white, and purple)
1 head of garlic (size depends on desired intensity of flavor)
cream cheese 180-200 g
sun-dried tomatoes β 150 g
olive oil (or take from sun-dried tomatoes) β 10 ml
sweet paprika - 5 g (or 2 teaspoons), a pinch of dried basil (or a spice mix)
black ground pepper to taste
balsamic sauce (amount can be adjusted according to taste preferences)
a bunch of fresh parsley
250 g spaghetti (weight of the dry product).
baking sheet, parchment paper, foil
Preparation
We slice the onions into half rings. We cut off the roots and tops of the garlic. Before that, of course, it is worth thoroughly washing it from dirt and grime.
We line the baking sheet with parchment paper. We place the onions, cream cheese, garlic, sprinkle with paprika and a mixture of dried herbs, and drizzle with olive oil. We tightly cover the baking sheet with foil and put it in the oven (210 degrees) for 40 minutes.
During this time, we finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes and parsley.
We can also put a pot of salted water on the fire to boil the pasta. We recommend cooking it closer to the moment when the onion base is ready.
When 40 minutes have passed, we take the baking sheet out of the oven. We remove the foil, squeeze the garlic pulp into the onions (here we recommend being very careful, the garlic is hot!), add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and half of the chopped parsley. We drizzle with balsamic sauce and mix everything thoroughly with a wooden spatula.
Meanwhile, our pasta was boiling. We drain the water and place it on the baking sheet with the mixed filling. We mix everything together thoroughly.
We serve it in portions on plates (you can form a nest using tongs and a tablespoon, which we did) and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.
We photographed the finished dish in the evening, so the color palette turned out in yellow tones. But the verdict β this pasta is very tasty, tender, and rich in flavors. And really simple to prepare (the most unpleasant moment is chopping the onions due to potential tears). Thatβs why it deserves to be in our blog. Enjoy!
If you have read this far β hereβs a life hack on how to cut onions without shedding tears. Before cutting, keep the peeled onion in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Take cold water in your mouth. Sharpen the knife before starting. While cutting, wet the blade with cold water every 5-10 seconds. Wear clear protective glasses. All this will significantly reduce the chances of crying while working with onions!
