Caramelized onions -- three recipes

Mmmm, a big pan of caramelized onions.  Sweet onions are starting to show up in grocery stores right about now.  Having been raised on Vidalia onions in the South, I will predictably like almost any dish that stars onions, especially if they are sauteed slowly till they get tender and sweet.  Here are a few of my favorite recipes with caramelized onions.

This pizza is very simple.  It doesn't even require sauce.  You just layer fresh mozzarella directly over the pizza dough, then top with whatever you want (here I used button mushrooms and red onions).  Check out the recipe here at the terrific blog Dinner A Love Story.

Next up, this lovely onion tart.  Saute the onions with some thyme, salt, and pepper, then load into the center of a pie crust, along with some feta and swiss cheese.  (I didn't have swiss cheese so I used Parmesan and it was fine.)  Fold the edges over and bake.  See the original recipe here.

And last but not least, this pasta dish combines onions, a little bit of white wine and broth, rotini, and a crunchy topping of baked panko-garlic crumbs.  Recipe here.

With all this yellow on the plate, be sure to balance it out with something green.  Any of these dishes would go well with a side salad, maybe something with a little bite like arugula or mixed herbs.  If you're a meat eater, I think the onion tart would be a great side to a beef dish.  Add some good bread with olive oil for dipping and this is my kind of meal!  Enjoy!