ONION PIE

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor’s 1970 cookbook, “Vibration Cooking, or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl,” combined memoir and recipes in a new way, and introduced many readers to a brilliant new voice in American food culture. This onion-pie recipe is like many of her recipes, simple and deeply satisfying home cooking rooted in the South, but with a truly global point of view. If you want, you can toss a handful of cooked ham or grated cheese or fresh chopped herbs into the mix before putting it in the oven. It’s especially delicious chilled, the next day, when the flavors have mellowed and the custard has become creamy.
Featured in: A Pie Made With Onions — And Good Vibes.

Onion Pie

3 large onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
¾ cup cream
1 9-inch pie crust, blind-baked



Sauté the onions in butter and peanut oil until they are tender and translucent. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the flour, and cook for just a few more minutes, then turn off the heat. Whisk the eggs with the cream, and mix well with the onions, then add the mixture to a partly blind-baked pie crust. Bake at 350 until the egg mixture is set, about 30 minutes.