Yesterday I learned that July 4th is the number 1 day Americans choose to cook out on the grill. That’s no surprise, but it’s also a day for preparing delicious sides to go with those juicy char-grilled meats.
Vidalia onions are also in season, so why not forego the usual baked or fried potato for a dish made from Georgia’s most famous vegetable?
At book signings, readers often ask me if Show Me a Kindness includes a recipe for Oma’s onion pie. That’s when I hand them one of the recipe cards I had printed for those occasions. But today is the perfect day to share that recipe with a wider audience. So for my readers who live outside of South Georgia, here is Oma’s recipe for onion pie:
Ingredients
1 prepared pie crust (see my recipe below)
2 tbsp butter
2 Vidalia onions, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp paprika
hot sauce to taste (I like a dash)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté’ onions for a few minutes until they are soft. Remove from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the eggs, cheese and sour cream. Add salt, pepper, paprika and hot sauce. Place onion slices in pie crust and pour their juices into the mixture of eggs, cheese and sour cream. Combine well, then pour the combination over the onion slices. Bake 40 minutes or until the pie is golden brown on top.
I’ve served this recipe in tartlet form at my launch parties in Savannah and Vidalia. Those mini pies disappeared fast! Even though several readers have made this recipe, I am most proud that two friends from Greece took the recipe home and prepared it for their extended family, who gave the pie two thumbs up. Oma’s onion pie has gone international!
As for crust, I used to be afraid of making my own. I laugh when I recall that intimidation. One day I decided to face my fear and learn to prepare crust via YouTube videos. Cooking blogs and cookbooks are full of easy, tasty recipes for crust. I prefer to make mine with butter this way:
Ingredients
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 stick butter, cubed, cold
3 Tbsp ice water
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butter into the flour with forks, knives, or (even better) a pastry cutter until the flour resembles pea-sized balls. Add the ice water one tsp at a time and continue to cut until you must get your hands in there and moosh the mixture around. Form the mixture into a ball of dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 10 minutes. Roll it out onto a floured pastry mat (or a clean counter top) until the dough is no more than ¼ inch thick. Place the dough in a pie plate and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 10 minutes).
Find more Vidalia onion recipes at VidaliaOnion.org. I’ll be grateful for any Vidalia onion recipe you’d like to share. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll be glad to repost them!
Happy Independence Day!
