"Eat my onion
Matthias Leuliette reinvents onion soup with his dish "Mange-moi l'oignon". The Demain resident makes his dish from the inside of a raw, cooked onion, which he serves in the same onion, still in its skin.
for 4 persons
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time : 1 h 50
Rest : 30 min
- 1 kg large onions (6 onions)
- 10 cl olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 l vegetable stock
- 2 g lemon thyme
- 10 g sea salt
- 3 g ground white pepper
1 - Prepare the onion bowls : heat 4 whole onions in a preheated oven at 170°C (gas mark 5-6) for 35 min. Leave to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cut the caps off the onions so that they can be scooped out. Remove and reserve the "leaves" of onion flesh, so as to recover containers such as small bowls (save enough onion membrane to keep the bowls watertight).
2 - Prepare the onion soup: cut the pre-cooked onion leaves finely lengthwise. Preheat your saucepan to 100°C (th. 3-4). Add the olive oil, remaining chopped onions, salt and pepper. Mix well to "break up" all the sliced onions. Start cooking, closing the lid almost completely. Stir every 5 min for about 1 h until they begin to soften, then gently caramelize.
- Open the lid and continue stirring, taking care to scrape up the juices that form at the bottom of the pan (a golden caramel color should appear). These juices will give the onion soup its umami notes.
- Add finely chopped garlic and lemon thyme. Cook for a further 5-10 min at 90°C (gas mark 3), checking the seasoning. When the onions are cooked and golden-brown, drain them in a colander (save the onion-flavored oil for later use). Set this onion compote aside.
- Blend the vegetable stock with 400 g of the onion compote. Strain through a chinois étamine and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3 - Presentation : place a nest of hay at the bottom of each plate. Place an "onion bowl" in the nest and pour in the hot soup. Taste and finish by eating the cooked onion flesh as well.
