This heavenly onion jam is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  The onions are a wonderful filling for crepes or tossed with pasta, walnuts and rosemary.  Try them on toasted rustic bread spread with softened goat cheese and some chopped roasted walnuts and minced rosemary or thyme.

This recipe requires about 1 and 1/2 hours cooking time, but most of it is unattended.  The jam will keep in the fridge for at least a week or more—to supply sandwiches, dinners, lunch and quick bites.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 pounds onions, peeled and sliced ¼ to 1/3 inch thick
• 4 thyme sprigs
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Method:

1. In a wide, deep skillet or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat, letting it color a little.  Add the onions and thyme, stir them about and cover.
2. Cook until they turn limp and reduce volume, about 5 minutes.
3. Then turn the heat to low and toss the onions with 1 ¼ tsp salt.  Cover, cook for 20 minutes, then add wine and cover again.
4. Every 20 minutes or so, give them a stir.  After an hour or so the onions will begin to brown.  You can hear them start to sizzle.  Now start stirring them more frequently so that they don’t burn.
5. When onions are a rich golden brown, stir in the vinegar and turn off the heat.  Taste for salt and season with pepper.