Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 1 Onion (large)
  • 1 cup Rice (long grain works well)
  • 3 stamens Saffron
  • 1/2 cup Pistachios (chopped)
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil (plus more for drizzle)
  • 1 tsp Salt (to taste)

Instruction

  • The first thing you'll have to do is boil the onions to help the various layers separate. Take an onion, slice about a centimeter off the top and bottom and just drop into boiling water for about 15 minutes. Don't worry about the skin, that'll fall off later. Once soft, drop the onion into a bowl of ice water to cool them down, and using your hands run your fingers in between the layers so they separate and you can pull the inside ones out through one of the holes.
  • While you are boiling the onions you can make the rice. I use a 2:1 rule and chose a standard long grain rice for this dish. While the rice is cooking and the onions are boiling, time to make the saffron oil.
  • In a saucepan begin heating the olive oil. Right when it is about to smoke, drop in 3 stamens of saffron. This helps them release their flavor as well as the traditional yellow color. You only need to fry the stamen for about 20 seconds (longer if the quality of your saffron is not very good).
  • When the rice is done, pour in the saffron oil and the chopped pistachios and add the pinch of salt and mix well. Using a spoon scoop the rice mixture into an onion shell and place on its side in a baking dish. Drizzle all the onions with olive oil and place in an oven preheated to 165 Celsius for 15 minutes, or until the onion skin just begins to brown on the edges.
  • Serve the pistachio and saffron rice stuffed onions hot, either as an appetizer or a main course.