Description
This onion pie recipe is rich, creamy, and easy to make, with a buttery saltine-cracker crust, Gruyère cheese, and a touch of Cajun seasoning. It tastes similar to a French onion soup.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 large onions, chopped into medium chunks, not fine (this measures approximately 4 1/2 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 cube dried beef bouillon, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 3/4 cups crushed saltine crackers, 1 tube
- 6 tablespoons melted salted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups gruyer cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan on the stove.
- Cook onions in the butter until tender and clear, about 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic; cook for 1 minute.
- Add seasonings and stir.
- Stir in the crushed beef bouillon cube.
- Let the onions cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a 9" pie plate with spray oil.
- Melt butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl.
- Stir in the cracker crumbs until evenly coated with the butter.
- Spray a 9" pie plate with spray oil
- Press cracker crumbs into the pie plate and spread out evenly, going up the sides of the plate.
- Place the onions evenly in the pie crust.
- Beat the eggs in a medium-sized bowl.
- Add half-and-half and cheese to the eggs and stir together.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the onions.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until golden on top.
Notes
- Don't chop the onions into fine pieces; you want them chunky. Slicing them into rounds doesn't work here, either, as it will make every bite stringy.
- Don't rush cooking the onions; you want them to sweeten while being thoroughly cooked.
- Spray the pie plate generously with cooking spray; a metal pan may cause the pie to stick a bit, but it makes a crisp, sturdy pie.
- Crush the crackers by hand. I find that stacking about 8 at a time first, then crushing them with both hands, does the trick. Smash them some more in the bowl before adding the melted butter, if needed.
- This crust will be loose, so don't expect it to hold tightly to the rim of the pie plate. As the pie bakes, the saltine crust will firm up and transfer from pie pan to plate quite well.
- By the time the crust is made, the onions are cooled enough to add to the pie shell.
- The pie will puff up as it bakes and settle down after it cools.
- Allowing the pie to cool a bit before cutting helps achieve cleaner cuts and easier release from the pie.
