A couple of weeks ago we had a family potluck BBQ as a going away party for my Uncle Tom and his wife Paula. They're moving down to Texas for a few months, then off to Montana to be camp host.A fun and exciting time for them as while in Texas they'll get to spend time with Tom's kids Kara and Tom and their kids.
I had a hard time deciding what to take for the potluck, I knew my brother was BBQing chicken and ribs and I knew what my Mom was taking - but that was everyone else bringing??? Our group that gets together is getting smaller and smaller as the years go by, kids grow up and move away, time and date conflictions - you know all of that stuff. It's always a guess as to what dishes will be there, so I try to kind of "bridge" any gaps and usually end up taking several things - as I did this time as well. I feel bad for the ones that don't make it to the party, cause it's always a fun visit with everyone and the food is awesome - we have some wonderful cooks in our family.
In taking stock of what I had on hand, what was in the budget and
thinking about how creative did I really want to get, I had to figure
this epicurean adventure out! I had watched an episode of Paula Deen
where she made a Vidalia Onion Pie - it looked delicious, but I didn't
have some of her ingredients. I knew I had 2 balls of pizza dough in
the freezer, I had yellow onions and I had some Feta cheese, ah ha, I
would make a Greek Onion Bread as an Appetizer.
My "Greek Onion Bread" turned out so good, everybody really liked it and it was good at room temp too! Perfect for a party or gathering.
Like I said I had 2 balls of pizza dough in the freezer. I took them out the morning before and put them in the fridge to start thawing. The next morning when I got up, I put the balls in bowls that I had lightly sprayed with olive oil, turned them to coat and covered with plastic wrap and set them aside to rise.
After the dough had risen, I pushed it out onto a lightly Olive Oil greased baking sheet and set it aside.
I sliced up 2 yellow onions (Vidalia's or any sweet would work great too) and chopped 5 cloves of garlic (they were small).
I put about 3 T of Olive oil into a large sauce pan - a fry pan and saute the onion would work to (I just need lots of room for stirring), on med to med-hi heat.
Once the onions begin to look translucent add the chopped garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes more. I then added 2 T of sugar and some salt and pepper to taste. I continued cooking and stirring for another 5 to 8 minutes. You could cook longer and get a more caramelized onion - which would be delicious too! -- I was impatient.
I sprinkled the dough with about 1.5 tsps of a dried Greek Seasoning I had - thought it would go nice with the Feta cheese. Once the Onions were cooked to my liking I spread the mixture evenly over the dough.
I wanted to add some color to my bread creation, so I chopped up a handful of fresh Spinach, fresh Basil would be awesome as well.
and sprinkled that over the dough. The Spinach added some nice color and some good nutrition!
Next came the Feta Cheese, yummm, we love Feta! I had a package of crumbled, but it you have the solid brick just break it up or grate it into smaller pieces. I actually broke up some of the bigger pieces to get more coverage. feta doesn't really melt so I like to make sure I have it as spread out as possible. As this is Greek Onion Bread, I grated some fresh Lemon Zest and sprinkled it over the top to give it some additional tang and freshness or "brightness" as all the TV chefs say! LOL
I then baked my Greek Onion Bread in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. **Hint, just keep checking for doneness, the sides will brown up faster than the middle will cook.
Viola! The finished product, cut up into about 3 to 4 in squares, just the right size for an appetizer.
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