Chef Isabel
Albergínies Farcides Mallorquines
Albergínies farcides are Mallorca's summer stuffed aubergines: tender boiled shells, a slow pork sofrito with moraduix, and a plain breadcrumb cap baked until the top turns crisp and golden.
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Cebollas Rellenas de Bonito
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Cebollas rellenas de bonito are Asturian home cooking from the mining valleys: sweet onions filled with tuna, egg, and piquillo, then braised until the onion melts into the sauce.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Easter
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 25 min cook•2 hr total
Yield4 servings
Cebollas rellenas de bonito are Asturian, from the Nalón mining valleys, and they are not just any stuffed onion. The onion is hollowed, filled with bonito del norte, hard-boiled egg, piquillo pepper, and a little tomato, then cooked slowly in a cider-tomato sauce until the outside goes tender and sweet. This is cocina de vigilia, meatless cooking for days when the pot still had to feed people properly.
The method that decides it is the hollowing and the braise. Leave two firm outer layers so the onion holds its shape, then cook it low and covered until a knife slips through with no fight. Rush the sauce and the onion stays sharp. Give it time and it becomes the dish: sweet outside, savory within, the bonito carrying the sea without shouting over the cider.
If you can't find bonito del norte where you are, use good tuna packed in olive oil, not dry tuna in water. It will be a little less delicate, but it will still behave honestly in the filling. Piquillos matter if you can get them; roasted red pepper is the plain substitute and brings sweetness without pretending to be the same thing.
Make them ahead if you like. They settle beautifully overnight, and the sauce thickens around the onions in the way my notebook always marks as worth waiting for. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Cebollas rellenas de bonito belong especially to El Entrego, in Asturias's Nalón valley, where they are tied to the local feast of San Andrés and to the mining households that needed filling meatless dishes. The best-known origin story names Aniceta Fueyo, called La Nina, who served stuffed onions in her Asturian kitchen and gave the town a dish it kept as its own. Bonito del norte, preserved in oil, made the filling practical far from the coast while still keeping the dish within the Cantabrian larder.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium yellow onions
Quantity
8, about 1.2kg total
bonito del norte in olive oil
Quantity
250g
drained and flaked
hard-boiled eggs
Quantity
2
finely chopped
piquillo peppers
Quantity
80g
finely chopped
tomato sauce or crushed tomato
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for the filling
parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
olive oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons, plus more if needed
onion from the hollowed centers
Quantity
1 small onion's worth
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely chopped
crushed tomato
Quantity
150g
dry Asturian cider or dry white wine
Quantity
150ml
fish stock or water
Quantity
150ml
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaf
Quantity
1
plain flour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium yellow onions | 8, about 1.2kg total |
| bonito del norte in olive oildrained and flaked | 250g |
| hard-boiled eggsfinely chopped | 2 |
| piquillo peppersfinely chopped | 80g |
| tomato sauce or crushed tomatofor the filling | 2 tablespoons |
| parsleyfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| olive oil | 2 tablespoons, plus more if needed |
| onion from the hollowed centersfinely chopped | 1 small onion's worth |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 2 |
| crushed tomato | 150g |
| dry Asturian cider or dry white wine | 150ml |
| fish stock or water | 150ml |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| plain flour | 1 tablespoon |
| salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy cazuela or lidded saute pan, 28 to 30cm
- •Small spoon or melon baller
- •Fine knife
- •Slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Hollow the onions
Peel the onions and trim the root end just enough so each one sits flat, keeping the base intact. Cut a small cap from the top and hollow each onion with a teaspoon or melon baller, leaving two firm outer layers. Chop enough of the scooped onion to make about 120g for the sauce. Pésalo, no lo adivines; too much onion in the sauce turns it watery.
- 2
Make the filling
Mix the flaked bonito, chopped hard-boiled eggs, piquillo peppers, 2 tablespoons tomato, parsley, a pinch of salt, and a little black pepper. Keep the filling moist but not wet, so it holds inside the onions instead of leaking into the pot.
If your bonito is packed in good olive oil, save a spoonful of that oil for the sauce. It carries the flavor of the fish gently. - 3
Stuff and seal
Fill each onion without packing it hard; the filling needs a little room as the onion softens. Dust the open tops lightly with the flour. This is not a crust, just a small seal to help the filling stay put during the braise.
- 4
Start the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy cazuela or pan that will hold the onions in one layer. Add the chopped onion centers with a pinch of salt and cook low and slow for 15 minutes, until soft, golden, and sweet. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. This sofrito, the slow onion base, is where the sauce gets its sweetness; rush it and the dish tastes thin.
- 5
Build the sauce
Stir in the pimentón off the direct heat for a few seconds so it smells warm but does not scorch. Add the crushed tomato and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until thick and darker. Pour in the cider, let it bubble for 2 minutes, then add the fish stock or water and the bay leaf. Taste for salt.
- 6
Braise slowly
Set the stuffed onions upright in the sauce, spooning a little sauce over each one. Cover and cook at the gentlest simmer for 55 to 70 minutes, basting now and then, until a knife slips through the onion wall easily. Do not boil hard. A hard boil tears the onions and throws the filling into the sauce.
- 7
Rest and serve
Lift the onions carefully to a warm dish. If the sauce is loose, simmer it uncovered for a few minutes until it coats a spoon, then remove the bay leaf. Spoon the sauce around and over the onions and let them rest 10 minutes before serving. The onion should cut with a spoon, and the filling should stay tender, not dry.
Chef Tips
- •Use medium onions, not very large ones. Big onions look generous, then they take too long to soften and the filling dries before the outside is tender.
- •Bonito del norte in olive oil is the right fish here. If you only have tuna, choose a good oil-packed jar or tin and drain it gently; water-packed tuna makes the filling taste flat and dry.
- •Dry Asturian cider is the cleanest match for the sauce. A dry white wine works if that is what you can get, but the sauce loses a little of Asturias's sharp apple edge.
- •These are better after a rest. Cook them in the morning or the day before, then reheat covered over low heat with a spoonful of water if the sauce has tightened.
Advance Preparation
- •The onions can be hollowed and the filling made up to 1 day ahead; keep both covered in the refrigerator and stuff just before cooking.
- •The finished dish keeps 2 days covered in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in its sauce, covered, so the onions stay whole.
- •For a make-ahead meal, cook the onions fully, cool them in the sauce, and serve the next day after a slow reheat. The flavor settles overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 440g)
Calories
385 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
120 mg
Sodium
1000 mg
Total Carbohydrates
34 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
25 g
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