The Heritage of Southern Cooking: Vidalia Onion Pie

Yes, I'm still on my southern cooking kick.  Can you blame me?  After those biscuits and catfish fillets?  The stuff is amazing!  So I decided to veer off the pavement onto the dirt road a little and make something a bit non-traditional.  Have you ever eaten an onion pie?  Yeah, me neither.  But this one is special.  It's made with Vidalia onions, the ones that are sweet.  So I promise this pie won't make you cry, unless it's from overwhelming happiness.

Vidalia Onion Pie
From The Heritage of Southern Cooking by Camille Glenn

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 medium Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
1 partially baked 9-inch pastry shell
1 cup grated aged Swiss cheese
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
Cayenne pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan.  Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat until they are limp but not the least bit brown.  Drain the onions and arrange them in the pastry shell.  Cover the onions with the grated cheese.  Beat the eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream together.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper, and pour over the cheese.

Place the pie pan on the lower shelf of the oven and bake until the pie has puffed in the middle and is golden brown all over, 35 to 40 minutes.

Makes 6 servings