Roasted Spring Onions, Almond Gremolata & Ricotta
The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity - I like to call it a snack for dinner. It's essentially a glorified dip, with charred, almost jammy spring onions, topped with a fresh, crispy, salty almond garlic gremolata. You can mix and match ingredients as you please, and really make the gremolata your own. Top everything on ricotta and serve with the crustiest of bread.
Equipment
- 1 12" cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 6 large spring onions
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- 1/4 cup almonds chopped
- 1 large preserved lemon quartered and thinly sliced
- 2 cups parsley finely chopped, stems removed
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil plus more as needed
- 2/3 cup ricotta salata
- salt, pepper and olive oil to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Cut the ends off of the spring onions, cut off about 1" from the green tips. Slice them in half lengthwise and set aside.
- Put a cast iron skillet on medium-low heat. Add a large glug of olive oil to the pan, then add the sliced garlic and chopped almonds. Season with salt and stir. Let the almonds and garlic cook undisturbed until the garlic is a golden brown and the almonds are toasted. Remove and set aside.
- Wipe out any remaining garlic or almonds from the pan. Add in the spring onions, placing them cut side down. Sear the onions for 1-2 minutes or until they have a nice char on the cut side.
- Move the cast iron skillet to the oven. Let the spring onions roast at 400F for another 10 minutes.
- While the onions are roasting, assemble the gremolata. Add the garlic and almond chips, sliced preserved lemon, finely chopped parsley to a bowl. Add in 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes, 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil. Stir to combine and season with salt as needed.
- Remove the spring onions from the oven.
- To plate, add the ricotta to the bottom of a large plate and spread it out evenly. Gently remove the spring onions from the cast iron pan so they stay in one piece and lay them out them on the plate. Top with the gremolata, and add more pepper and olive oil as you please! Serve with crusty bread.