Onion cutlets are a very simple and tasty dish, for the preparation of which you need a minimum amount of products available in the kitchen of any housewife. They are prepared quickly enough, but they turn out to be so unusual that not everyone can determine what they are made of.
The classic recipe for onion cutlets
In this dish, of course, the main ingredient is onion. To prepare 8-10 cutlets you will need:
- 4 large onions
- 1 large or 2 small eggs
- 4 rounded tablespoons of flour
- spices and herbs to taste (salt, pepper, dill, marjoram, paprika)
Cooking process:
1. Wash the onion, free it from the husk, and cut it into small cubes (a little trick - when slicing the onion, you need to moisten the knife and onion with cold water - this reduces the number of tears). You can use a chopper, but it's important not to overdo it or turn the onion into a smooth puree. A grater and a meat grinder are also not suitable.
2. Transfer the onion mass to a bowl and add spices and salt, mix thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, quickly beat the eggs (it is better to use homemade ones) and pour into the onion mass.
4. The next step is to gradually add the required amount of flour to the egg and onion. It is important to get a homogeneous, so-called minced meat, without lumps. The consistency of the mass should be similar to that of pancakes.
5. Pour some vegetable oil into a preheated Teflon frying pan (it is highly recommended to use corn oil instead of sunflower oil, as it is better absorbed) and spread the minced meat with a tablespoon. Fry the cutlets on both sides until tender. Do not make them large, small ones are fried much faster and get an original, unusual shape with a golden crust. An interesting fact is that during frying, the smell of fried fish appears in the kitchen, followed by the onion smell, so it is difficult for guests to guess from the first time what the cutlets are made of.
You can eat cutlets both hot and cold there. Served more often with tomatoes and sour cream or mayonnaise sauces, also decorated with herbs. Onion cutlets are good both as an independent dish, and as an addition to meat, kebabs and fish, some people like to eat them with mashed potatoes.
Nutritional value of this dish per 100 grams:
Calorie content - 148 kcal.
Protein: 5.5 gr.
Fat: 4.8 gr.
Carbohydrates: 21.8 gr.
Onion cutlets with semolina
An interesting way to make onion cutlets is to use semolina instead of flour. The dish turns out to be more high-calorie and nourishing, and the taste is in no way inferior to the classic recipe. The ingredients and proportions are the same as in the basic recipe, but there are still small additions, namely, you will need:
- 350 grams of onions
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons of semolina
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 clove of garlic
- favorite spices to taste
Cooking process:
1. Wash, peel the onion, cut it into small cubes and send it along with a clove of garlic to the chopper bowl or to the food processor.
2. Add separately whipped egg, semolina, ketchup and spices to the onion puree. Mix everything thoroughly and leave the resulting mass for 15-20 minutes, so that the onions let out the juice, and the semolina swells.
3. From the resulting mass, we form cutlets (breading is not needed, since they are already remarkably molded and do not fall apart), and fry in vegetable oil on both sides until golden brown.
Since onion cutlets are quite fragile, very often they use a cooking method during which they are not fried, but stewed on the so-called potato pillow. Put potatoes cut into thin slices at the bottom of the pan and pour a little water, put onion cutlets on top and stew under a closed lid for about 20 minutes.
Tomato sauce is a very tasty addition to onion cutlets. To prepare it you will need:
- 1 small onion
- 1 carrot
- a few sprigs of dill (optional)
- sunflower oil - 20 ml
- granulated sugar - 3 teaspoons
- tomato paste - 5 tablespoons
- clean drinking water - 1, 5 glasses
- salt, pepper to taste
Cooking process:
Wash and peel the onion and carrots. Cut the onion into half rings, and cut the carrots into strips. In a frying pan preheated with sunflower oil, fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes. At this time, dilute tomato paste with water, then pour it into a pan with vegetables, mix thoroughly, add spices and herbs to taste and simmer for 5 minutes. To make the sauce sweet, you need to add granulated sugar to the mixture, stir and simmer for another 7 minutes under a closed lid. Further, there are two options for the development of events: ready-made onion cutlets are poured with sauce and simmer for several minutes, or the sauce and cutlets are served separately, and then everyone will fill them with sauce at will.
Tips for making onion cutlets:
- Since onion cutlets themselves are very tender and fragile, you can "strengthen" them by adding a little raw potato grated on a fine grater to the onion mince. This will not affect the taste in any way, but the cutlets will be neat and will not break.
- If you like a spicy taste, then you can add finely chopped champignons or dried porcini mushrooms to the minced onion.
- To avoid crunching onions in cutlets, after cutting, pour boiling water over the onions, put them in a colander and continue to cook according to the recipe.
- To make the cutlets satiety, you can add a small amount of chopped fresh bacon to the minced onion.
