Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Chef Davide Marzullo won the S.Pellegrino Social Responsibility Award for the Italy and South East Europe Region.
Italian chef Davide Marzullo shares his vegetarian dish of onion stuffed with a Genovese sauce (a rich, onion-based pasta sauce) topped with bitter cocoa crumble and a Parmigiano-Reggiano mousse. The winning young chef recommends baking this simple and satisfying dish during the colder months of the year when it serves as a crowd-pleasing vegetarian appetiser.
Marzullo decided to make the humble onion the star of the dish, as it's an ingredient which he says is commonly found in the background of Italian recipes, yet rarely in the foreground. “I wanted to get involved and try to put it in the front row,” he says.
The multilayered onion also reminds him of his chef uncle who used to serve an onion sauce at his small restaurant back home. He now appreciates the nuances of the dish as a young adult, after reluctantly being served it as a child.
Marzullo also draws on a childhood fondness for laurel, other another native ingredient found in his homeland of Italy, which he smokes for the final garnish. “The scent of the laurel that releases the burnt leaves reminds me when I was little, my dad, who burned the laurel branches for the fireplace.”
Check out Marzullo's recipe in the simple step-by-step guide below:
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Preheat the oven to 180°. In the meantime, place 200 grams of coarse salt on a baking sheet and place the two onions on top. Cook everything in the oven for about 40 minutes.
Once the onions are cooked, cut the tops off and scoop out the insides so as to create an empty shell that will form our dish.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Remove the first 4 layers of the onions and cut them into thin julienne strips. Then, put oil, butter and the chopped onions in a saucepan.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Once the onions have released all their water, add the salt and the bay leaf, and cover the saucepan with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes on a medium heat.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
After 10 minutes, remove the film, lower the heat and cook the onion very gently for about another 45 minutes.
The onion will take on an amber colour and a very sweet taste.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Bring the cream to the boil, sprinkle in the Parmigiano-Reggiano and mix well with a whisk.
Once mixed, add the gelatine previously soaked in cold water.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Place the Parmigiano-Reggiano mousse in an airtight container and let it rest for 40 minutes in the fridge.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Toast the hazelnuts in the oven at 175° for 11 minutes. Once cold, cut them in half.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Mix all the ingredients together and cook at 172° for 25 minutes. Blend everything with the help of a food processor.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
To decorate, burn a few bay leaves and a few pieces of onion peel directly over an open flame.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Line a plate with some coarse salt (it serves to support the onion), place the empty onion on top, decorate with the bay leaves and onion skins, then fill the onion with the Genovese sauce and add the bitter cocoa crumble.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
Place a few pieces of toasted hazelnuts, form a quenelle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano mousse with the help of a hot spoon, add field herbs and then place the onion cap on top.
Courtesy of Chef Davide Marzullo
The final dish.
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