French Onion Pasta -- #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I don’t do TikTok, but I do read the Washington Post, and I love that they take reporting and investigating as seriously in their food columns as in other topics.

Apparently, this one-pot pasta is a big hit online. I’ll take the WaPo’s word for that. I can assure you, it’s a big hit in my house. It’s got the rich, carmelized onion flavor of French Onion Soup, with a lighter stock, thyme, and a bit of creamy cheese stirred in to hint at the gratinee that for many of us, is the best part of the soup.

The recipe is easy and does take only the one pot, and no colander. While it doesn’t require constant stirring, it does require some attention, though, so it’s probably not a weeknight dinner for most of us. Total time for prep and cooking is about 50 minutes. 

The WaPo notes that most of the TikTok versions use Parmesan, which the writer switched to Gruyere to mimic the soup. Turns out I was wrong when I thought we had a hunk of Gruyere, so I used Pecorino-Romano instead and it was delish. Use what you have and love.

We used port to deglaze the pan. The original notes that port, red wine, sherry, or additional broth would do as well. 

We served this with roasted broccolini. I can see adding in sauteed mushrooms, cooked broccoli, or chopped artichoke hearts. 

This dish is a delightful mix of French flavor and Italian pasta, so I don’t know whether to say Bon Appetit or Buono Appetivo. How about Enjoy!

French Onion Pasta – adapted from Aaron Hutcherson, Washington Post

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 medium yellow onions (1 pound), thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

1/4 cup port (see note above on substitutions) 

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth (if you’re using canned broth, choose reduced-sodium, if possible) 

8 ounces short pasta, such as rigatoni, fusilli or orecchiette

5 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with twine, plus more for serving

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

4 ounces (1 cup) finely shredded Gruyere cheese (divided)

In a stock pot or oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and salt, stir, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are nicely browned in spots and the bottom of the pot is covered with stuck-on bits, about 20 minutes.

Add the port, loosening any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Add the stock or broth, pasta, thyme, and pepper. Cover partially and to bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally; partially cover the pot and adjust the heat as needed to keep the mixture at a gentle, not rolling, boil, until the pasta is al dente and the liquid has reduced to coat the pasta, 15 to 20 minutes. The pasta will continue to absorb liquid as it sits, so it’s okay if you still have sauce when the pasta is done.

Remove from the heat, remove the thyme, and stir in ½ cup cheese until melted. Taste. Season with more salt or pepper, if needed.

Serve with the remaining cheese. 

Enjoy! 

From the cover of BLIND FAITH, written as Alicia Beckman (in hardcover, ebook, and audio from Crooked Lane Books, October 2022)  

Long-buried secrets come back with a vengeance in a cold case gone red-hot in Agatha Award-winning author Alicia Beckman’s second novel, perfect for fans of Laura Lippman and Greer Hendricks.

Two women whose paths crossed in Montana years ago discover they share keys to a deadly secret that exposes a killer—and changes everything they thought they knew about themselves. 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, continuing in July 2022 with Peppermint Barked. She's the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. As Alicia Beckman, she writes standalone suspense, beginning with Bitterroot Lake (2021) and continuing with Blind Faith (October 2022, Crooked Lane Books).

A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by her website and subscribe to her seasonal newsletter, for a chat about the writing life, what she's working on, and  what she's reading -- and a free short story. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.