Baked Stuffed Onions (Salantourmasi)
A fresh, vibrant twist on the traditional Greek dish Salantourmasi. These sweet baked onions are filled with a hearty, plant-based stuffing of quinoa, kidney beans, walnuts, fresh herbs, and a rich tomato sauce. A beautiful and satisfying centrepiece that showcases just how sweet and flavourful onions can be — no need to pre-cook the grain! We harvested onions fresh from our farm, which felt so special – a great way to make use of seasonal produce!
Takes 1 hour 40 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the onions:
- 8 medium yellow onions preferably oval-shaped
- Fresh parsley for garnish
For the stuffing:
- 100 g quinoa ½ cup, rinsed
- 40 ml olive oil 2½ tbsp
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 100 g walnuts 1 cup, roughly chopped
- 1 × 200g tin kidney beans drained and rinsed (about 1 cup cooked)
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 50 g tomato purée 3 tbsp
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 10 g fresh parsley small handful, finely chopped
- 10 g fresh mint small handful, finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 50 ml water or vegetable stock 3 tbsp + 1 tsp
- 1 tsp dark miso
- 1 tsp dried oregano
For the tomato sauce:
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 240 ml water 1 cup
- 60 g tomato paste ¼ cup
- 60 ml lemon juice 4 tbsp
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
Pre-cook the onions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. Slice off the tops and roots of the onions, and make a cut halfway through each to help separate the layers. Peel the onions and boil them for 10 minutes, until softened but still holding their shape. Drain and allow to cool slightly.
Prepare the filling:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the rinsed quinoa, chopped garlic, walnuts, kidney beans (crush a few slightly with the back of a spoon), diced tomato, tomato purée, lemon juice, chopped parsley and mint, salt, black pepper, oregano, dark miso, and water or stock. Mix thoroughly until well combined.
Hollow out the onions:
- Carefully separate the cooled onions into layers to form onion ‘cups’. Finely chop the inner cores of the onions and stir them into the filling for added flavour and texture.
Stuff the onions:
- Generously fill each onion cup with the mixture, pressing gently to pack it in. Arrange the stuffed onions tightly in a deep baking dish.
Make the tomato sauce:
- In a jug or bowl, mix together the chopped tomatoes, water, tomato paste, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir or blend until smooth and well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Bake:
- Pour the tomato sauce over and around the stuffed onions. Cover the dish tightly with foil or a lid and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (fan 160°C / gas mark 4) for 60 minutes. Remove the foil or lid and bake for a further 15 minutes, until the tops are golden and the sauce is bubbling.
Garnish and serve:
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve warm, with plenty of tomato sauce spooned over each onion.
