While spring onions can easily complement a roast chicken or a grilled steak, my ode to this allium required that I present them as the meal’s hero, sitting atop creamy, cheesy polenta. I’m a sucker for Italian taleggio cheese, but a local semi-soft, washed rind, cow’s milk cheese like Spring Day Creamery’s La Vie En Rose would be the greener choice. I learned the high/low method of roasting spring onions from “The Canal House Cookbook,” which gives you nicely charred, but tender results.
Serves 4
FOR THE SPRING ONIONS:
8 whole spring onions
Olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
Aged balsamic vinegar
FOR THE POLENTA:
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup polenta
2 tablespoons butter
3 ounces taleggio cheese, rind removed, cut into 1/4-inch squares
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving
To roast the onions, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Trim the roots from the onions and if the onions are large, slice them lengthwise in half or quarters. Arrange them on a baking sheet, toss them with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Roast the onions until brown all over, about 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and continue to roast them until tender, another 15 minutes. (The residual heat will finish the job.) Remove the spring onions from the oven and toss them with 2-3 teaspoons of the vinegar.
While the onions are roasting, make the polenta by heating the stock in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the salt. Gently sprinkle the polenta into the pot with 1 hand while whisking constantly with the other hand. Whisk in the butter. Turn the heat to low so that the polenta sits at a very low simmer. Cook, stirring often, for 20 minutes until the polenta is creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the taleggio cheese until the cheese has mostly melted.
Ladle hot polenta into bowls and top with the roasted spring onions. Sprinkle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
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