Caramelized Onion Pasta
An outrageously tasty dinner
Samantha Seneviratne•
Jan 7, 2025
All you need for this outrageously tasty dinner is a bag of onions, a couple cloves of garlic, some dried pasta, and cheese. Caramelizing sliced onions in a little butter and olive oil turns them sweet and yielding, almost luscious. Pasta water and Parmesan do double duty, adding salt and depth while the creamy sauce forms.
I'm a baker, cookbook author, and culinary host with a passion for making baking approachable for everyone. I've written multiple cookbooks, including The New York Times-acclaimed "Bake Smart." You can catch me Hulu's new show "Cookie Cupcake Cake", but my favorite time in the kitchen is still baking with my son Artie in Brooklyn.
Ingredients (10)
Ingredients (10)
Instructions
Heat oil (2 Tbsp) and butter (2 Tbsp) in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium until butter is melted.
Add onions (2 lb) and garlic (2 cloves) and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender and deeply golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Stop before the onions become dry and shriveled
Add red pepper flakes (¼ tsp) (if using) and salt (1 ½ tsp). Remove pot from heat.
Meanwhile, cook pasta (12 oz) in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
Add pasta and 1 cup pasta cooking liquid to onion mixture and stir to combine.
Add a small handful of cheese and stir until melted. Repeat with remaining cheese, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed to create a glossy sauce that coats the pasta.
Stir in parsley (½ cup) (if using).
Divide pasta among bowls. Top with Parmesan, parsley, and a few cranks of pepper.
