Baked Sweet Onion Shells with Cheesy Spinach Filling

These individual savory onion bowls would be great for a starter or a side. I love how the delicious cream cheese and spinach filling is encased in it's very own edible shell. These would be the perfect accompaniment to the main course for your Valentine's Day dinner!

Let's begin with the filling:

Beat a block of cream cheese and an egg until smooth.

Add in some soft bread crumbs(I made my crumbs from stale Hawaiian bread this time. It added a nice, subtle sweetness), Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, milk, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.

Stir in a package of thawed, well drained (I squeezed mine to remove the excess moisture after draining), chopped spinach.

Grab a large, flat sweet onion. I used a Vidalia.

Peel away the paper and cut in half from top to bottom.

Separate the onion into layers and arrange in a rectangular casserole dish prepared with non-stick cooking spray.

Spoon the filling into each onion "bowl".

Then top with more bread crumbs and grated Parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees until the onions are soft and the filling is slightly browned or bubbly. Mine went for 40-45 minutes and then I finished them off under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get that nice, golden brown color on top.

The onions were soft enough to be enjoyable, but firm enough to hold their shape. I could have picked them up to eat them, although that would have been messy. I went with the fork and knife method instead. So good! Since I was testing and tweaking this recipe and not serving it to a crowd, this was my dinner tonight. I stopped myself at three...but I was seriously considering a fourth! 

Baked Sweet Onion Shells with Cheesy Spinach Filling

I really need to come up with a shorter name for this recipe. Any suggestions?

1 (10 oz.) package chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz. light cream cheese
1 egg
1 cup soft bread crumbs (not the stuff from a can), divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large, flat sweet onion such as a Vidalia

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Squeeze excess moisture out of spinach.

Beat cream cheese and egg until smooth. Add in 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 cup parmesan, mayonnaise, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well. Stir in spinach.

Peel onion and cut in half from top to bottom. Separate layers to form shell. Place in a baking dish. Divide spinach mixture evenly among the shells. Top with remaining bread crumbs and parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until the onions are soft and the filling is set. Finish under the broiler for color.

Taste tip: This would also be good with some chopped artichoke stirred into the filling before baking.

Serves: 4-6

Enjoy!

Oh, before you go....don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY sponsored by Maple Leaf Farms.  Go to my last post to ENTER!  Just 2 days left....