Jarlsberg Vidalia Onion Pie
When I think of Vidalia onions, I immediately think of the South, summertime and something sweet. In fact, if you didn’t know it, Vidalia onions originated in Vidalia, Georgia. They even have an Onion Festival in Vidalia every year – and this sweet variety is only grown in a 20 county region in Georgia. I love all onions, but they don’t always love me when I eat them raw, so I am in Heaven in the spring and summer when sweet Vidalias are plentiful. Vidalia onions are also the official state vegetable!
Onions are one of my favorite ingredients to use in cooking and they are the key to many dishes when layered along with all the other flavors. They are included in mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery) as the basis of many dishes including soups and stews and they are wonderful when caramelized and take center stage in a classic French Onion Soup.
Jarlsberg Vidalia Onion Pie is another dish where onions are the star. These onions are sweeter and have a very different flavor than traditional onions. This is the perfect time of year to make this pie because as we get further into summer, the Vidalias get even sweeter. And who wouldn’t like a sweeter onion?
I couldn’t think of a better cheese to pair with Vidalia onions than Jarlsberg. It has always been one of my favorite cheeses to serve as an appetizer as well as to use in cooking. It has the robust taste of Swiss cheese, but is a bit creamier and has almost a nutty flavor. The combination of the sweetness from the onions and the delightful flavor from the Jarlsberg cheese had the husband doing a happy dance after making this dish.
He even gave his stamp of approval on the recipe. He kept saying how much he really enjoyed it (he ate almost the whole pie by himself!). I even made it a second time and added a bit more cheese to make the Jarlsberg really stand out. Forget this stuff about real men don’t each quiche (which is just a fussier name for a savory pie). This is now a summertime favorite at our house.
Serve this for a light supper or a luncheon paired with a salad and you have a little touch of summer and one of the specialties from the South.
Jarlsberg Vidalia Onion Pie
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium Vidalia Onions, thinly sliced
1 partially baked 9-inch pie crust (I use Ina Garten’s recipe) * See Cook’s Notes below
1 1/2 cups grated Jarlsberg cheese
3 whole eggs, at room temperature, preferably free range
1 1/2 cups half and half, preferably organic
3/4 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch cayenne pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat until they are limp. Be sure not to brown them at all. Drain the onions on paper towels and arrange them in the bottom of the pastry shell. Cover the onions with grated cheese.
Beat the eggs and half and half together. Season with salt and cayenne pepper, and pour over the cheese.
Place the pie pan on the lower shelf of the oven and bake until the pie has puffed in the middle and is golden brown on top, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let sit a few minutes before serving.
* Cooks notes – I use 1/2 of Ina’s recipe for the pastry crust. Once chilled, I roll it and place it in a deep dish glass pan. For a partially baked crust – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place aluminum foil over the crust. Fill the pie pan with pie weights or beans. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until crust appears slightly brown on edges. Remove from oven and immediately take out the pie weights and aluminum foil. Slightly prick the pastry crust all over. The crust is now ready to fill. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and proceed with recipe directions.
Recipe courtesy of Bunkycooks.com
I would love to use this jarlsberg cheese on my beer bread grilled cheese sandwiches! Yum!!
I follow you with Google reader.
I would like to try homemade mac n cheese with Jarlsberg cheese.
i would love to use jarlsberg cheese to make a sauce for grill asparagus.
i follow @bunkycooks on Twitter and Jarlsberg USA on Twitter. (@janejoeyxo)
i like Bunkycooks on Facebook and Jarlsberg USA on Facebook. (anne hill)
tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/janejoeyxo/status/98835817774063616
I follow you on facebook and love to eat it thinly cut and room temp., all by itself with a glass of red wine. Fabulous!
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i would love to use that jarlsberg on a fried egg sandwich, with over easy eggs, thick cut bacon, fresh lettuce and tomato from our garden on a toasted sourdough roll. i’m hungry right now!
I would eat it on a sandwich – in fact I did today. I love that cheese!
I am a RSS subscriber – thanks.
One of my favorite sandwiches is grilled cheese featuring jarlsberg cheese and slices of vidalia onions. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
One of my favorite summertime treats is a grilled cheese sandwich with a big slice of tomato. Jarlsberg is a great cheese for that purpose!
I would LOVE to make a QUICHE! we prefer cold quiche – delicious w/ your cheese I’d bet!
I have the best, and simplest, recipe for using Jarlsberg cheese in a pasta salad. It’s just too hot to bake and with temps all week being 105 and higher, it’s even to hot to cook on the cooktop. So my recipe is perfect for this time of year! Thanks for the giveaway and the idea to make a pasta salad today. 🙂
I’ve followed you on Twitter for awhile and now follow Jarlsberg USA too.
I tweeted about your giveaway (and your yummy recipe)! 711Mum
I liked you and Jarlsberg on FB.
I subscribe to your emails! Thanks again for the giveaway.
I’d love to win this for my bf in MA! He’d probably make some decadent cheesy mac & cheese!
I would use Jarlsberg cheese to make my next pizza on the grill with caramelized onions, spicy potatoes and cilantro!!!!
I am a follower of both!
I tweeted! 🙂
I like you both on FB!
I am already a subscriber to your RSS feed!
I would make some awesome mac n cheese with that Jarlsberg! 🙂
Would love to try the jarlsberg in my Zucchini/Tomato/Mushroom recipe.
Love your Food & Travel Blog!
Thanks,
Jane
I like a fondue that is half gruyère, half jarlsberg! A little garlic, a little white wine, a little kirsch et voilà!
Following you and @jarlsberg on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/BoonieSooze/status/98874183458623488
I tweeted about your giveaway!
http://twitter.com/#!/BoonieSooze/status/98874814395199489
I like you and jarlsberg on facebook!
I subscribe to you through my google reader!
i subscribe to ‘bunky cooks’, and i love Jarlsberg cheese on homemade sourdough crackers!
Panini sandwiches! Of course, you add some vidalia onions in there! The pie looks delicious.
I would like to make a nice stringy Jarlsberg fondue!
I like you on FB!
I am now following bunkycooks and Jarlsberg USA on Twitter.
Tweeted the contest @lilyo
I would make this delicious sandwich: http://www.chow.com/recipes/11106-sweet-hot-mustard-and-jarlsberg-grilled-cheese
I Follow @bunkycooks on Twitter and Jarlsberg USA on Twitter. I am @purplelarkspur
I subscribe via RSS
Tweet! https://twitter.com/#!/PurpleLarkspur/status/98929625807339520
Liked you!
This morning I had a egg/pepper/jarlsberg burrito.. delicious!
I would make Macaroni and Cheese!
I subscribe to Bunkycooks via email 🙂
i’d make quiche!
i already follow you on the twitter!
i would love to make some yummy yummy mac and cheese of course!!
just tweeted about it
i like you and the cheese on facebook
i am already subscribed
we love jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwiches. :9
I can’t tell you how many onion pies as well as tomato ones I have made this summer, love ’em so much… your version sure does look good with the swiss… hey, I tried to send a message on twitter but I don’t think it went through, anyway, the crab fingers were from Dickie’s Bourbon House….sort of on the same page as the shrimp you commented on…… try them next time you get down there….I may just have to make a quick trip just for old times sake….
well I would love to win and it is great on a steak mixed with butter
I love love love Jarlsberg cheese. We go through it pretty quickly, yes that big wedge….most used daily in scramble eggs/omelets . I do make the Pampered Chef Holiday Wreath with leftover turkey (which we do on the smoker) and Jarlsberg, craisins, mayo & mustard….all wrapped in a crescent roll wreath. Yuuummmmmm– favored over Thanksgiving dinner (almost).
I would make quiche lorraine!! i worked at a restaurant in college & the chef would make a fabulous quiche for brunch, he said the secret was in the cheese!
I am a follower of BunkyCooks & Jarlsberg USA on twitter!
I tweeted about the giveaway!!
I “liked” you & jarlsberg usa on facebook 🙂 I would also make some yummmmmmy mac and cheese with this jarlsberg. i can taste it now!!
i added you to my daily google reader!! crossing my fingers !!!
Just ‘liked’ you on FB and put you on my blog roll side bar.
Well I’m just here for the pie! It looks wonderful! Can you ship me one? -:) I love vidalia onions when I can get them, but it’s hard in the southwest. We have to settle for Texas Sweets. -:) Great recipe!
I’d probably never get a chance to use it in any dish as I would eat it as-is, I know I would!
I am one of your current twitter followers and a new Jarlsberg follower on twitter (@rusthawk).
tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/rusthawk/status/99312994416197632
I am following you and Jarlsberg on FB (Rust Hawk).
I am a new email subscriber. Love the quiche/pie!
You have no idea how much I’d love to bake that Jarlsberg into a nice quiche with some lardons, and of course they would be delicious in an onion pie like this one!
I receive your RSS feed too.
Also subscribed to your RSS email feed,
‘Liked’ jarlsberg USA!
i will make pan de bono or grilled cheese sammies 😀
I follow you both on Twitter now!
I tweeted!
I like you both on FB!
I subscribe to your RSS!
I have never had Jarlsberg cheese before, so I’d have to save my judgement on it’s best use for when it gets here! *wink, wink*
Way, way back in my sailing days, Jarlsberg was a staple of the food locker. It was hard enough to keep well for at least a week, even in an iffy ice box, and it tasted oh-so-delicious when we finally reached our mooring and broke out the crackers, cheese and evening libation (well, the sun *was* over the yardarm, you know!). A gourmet meal, not so much, but a gourmet experience, definitely.
I am a Facebook fan!
I would use it in my ham and cheese stromboli.
I had to laugh at Mr. B’s preferred side dish. I”m going to try making a Jarlsberg Walla Wall Onion Pie.
Beautiful pie! I would love to make a grilled cheese sandwich with heirloom tomatoes from our garden.
Hi Gwen,
Thanks for sharing this wonderful onion quiche (i like the name more than pie he he) I love the sweetness of Vidalia onions and even got some last weekend from the farmers market. I usually slice them very thin and use them raw in salads.
I’m still trying to figure out a way to make a vegan quiche, but I’m definitely bookmaking this recipe to be made as soon as I can vegan-ise it.
A cheesy onion pie sounds so good!
OHHHHHH YUMMMERS I think I would try Cheesy Scallop Potatoes . . . in addition to the Pie ;>)
OOOOOPPPPPPS did I mention I wanted to Jarlsberg cheese in those taters??
Cheese and crackers……….I am born and raised in Vidalia, GA…..we love our onions !!