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If my Mom & Dad ever heard me say “OMG I am in LOVE with my Caramelized Sweet Onion Jarlsberg Spread!” I would have my mouth washed out with soap for fibbing! Wait.. how many you over experienced that as a child? Okay seriously that was the WORST punishment EVER! Not the belt, not the time out chair (which I think is stupid by the way) but soap. $1.99 soap in your mouth held there for even 20 seconds. WORST PUNISHMENT EVER!
See as a child there was no way in hell you would ever, EVER catch me putting an onion of any fashion in my mouth let alone saying that I loved it. OMG no way I would have rather eaten the entire bar of soap between 2 slices of bread than endure that nastiness. Funny though how our taste buds change as we grow up and learn to expand our mind and our pallet. Now granted there are some out there that still live by the PB&J only mantra and hey if it works for you, cool but dude.. you are so missing out on an entire culinary world of awesomeness! If me, the girl that would take an hour to eat a plate of pasta because “OMG! There are ginormous chunks of tomatoes and onions and chunky-thingamabobs on my plate” and I had to pick every single thing out so literally there was only sauce and mangled noodles left. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still not down with the chunks (as I will puree my Italian Gravy) but something magical happens when onions are slow cooked. They caramelize and become super, SUPER sweet that you literally forget they are an onion. No really, you forget they are onions. Swear!
Remember my telling you about how the Fantabulous in-laws came up last weekend and I needed to make a simple but yummy light lunch? Well I made the Chicken Prosciutto Roulades (which are AWESOME!) and needed something on the side. OMG seriously this was so good I was secretly hoping they hated it as I wanted the entire bowl for myself! Actually I had some left so I heated this up, toasted some more of those most adorablest party rye breads and took the left over pieces of Prosciutto and ate it like that for breakfast. DON’T JUDGE! There was protein and dairy and carbs – full balanced breakfast… right?
But this… oh dear sweet baby Jesus I just want to make a giant kiddie pool full of it next time and sit outside of it scooping it out BY MYSELF as in I’m not sharing! LOL Well okay I’ll share – you can toast my party rye and layer the Prosciutto on it. HAHA
With football season winding down and hockey season FINALLY underway, you NEED to make this! Or seriously… make this Friday night movie night and have this as your most awesome snack! I’d make 2 bowls though as you really won’t want to share. No really, you won’t want to share! I predict if you don’t make 2 bowls, someone will be getting their hand smacked away after you dive in for your first bite. Cries of “GET YOUR OWN” will be heard all around the world as you hear the slap of hands when someone tries to take some of YOURS!
Now if you’ll excuse me, there is a container of this ‘hidden’ in the back of the fridge that is going to make an AWESOME pre-dinner snack!
PrintCaramelized Sweet Onion Jarlsberg Spread
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Ingredients
- 2 large Vidalia sweet onions, cut into 1/4” slices
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (more if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups plus 3 tablespoon grated Jarlsberg Cheese
- 1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2–1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 6 slices cooked, chopped bacon *OPTIONAL (lord knows how much you people love bacon!)
- Toasted Party Rye
- Crackers
- Vegetables
- Corn Chips
- Prosciutto
Instructions
- Melt the butter and oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat.
- Add in the onions and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Once the onion begins to brown, reduce the heat to low.
- Add in the sugar and cook for 20-30 minutes stirring every 3-5 minutes until the onions reach a golden brown. If necessary, add a small trace amount of oil if the pan gets dry.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a bowl, add in the 2 cups Jarlsberg cheese, cream cheese, paprika, mayo and ground black pepper to taste.
- Add in the onions and mix to combine.
- At this point you can add in the bacon.
- Mix well and pour into a buttered baking dish.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 25 – 30 minutes.
- Garnish with smoked paprika if desired.
Notes
I served this with toasted Party Rye breads but you could easily serve this with corn chips, vegetables, crackers, etc…
My favorite way to shovel this in my mouth is to toast some party rye, put a thinly sliced piece of prosciutto on and then put a heaping slather of this amazing spread on top!
You’re a woman after my own heart!!! I’m a total food junkie but I am allergic to certain things (seafood, fish, and a number of other things) so I’m obsessed with the yummy things I can eat…..like a baked Jarlsberg dip at one of our local restaurants…..so I decided to make my own, rather than pay $12+ tip for a tiny dish. Your version minus the bacon is very close so I’m attempting to make it today!!! I’ll let you know how it turns out…..I got up at 5 am to start caramelizing the Vidalias😉
Can you make this recipe a day or two ahead of baking? Would it be as good?
I’ve not tried but I know it reheats beautifully. I don’t see why you couldn’t make it ahead.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
My wife made this on Sunday for the game and we ate this in minutes! She then had to go and make another batch during the game! I took some to the station the next day and those guys pretty much tackled me for it!
They can’t get enough of your recipes! You make ME look good 😉
Thanks!
★★★★★
Hey if I can make you look good then my job here is done! WAIT until you see what I do with this spread next. I have something up my sleeve for this *muahahaha!*
Best Kitchen Wishes!
★★★★★
TKW this is one of the best recipes for dips – spreads-whatever you call it! I hate onions but when I saw this I had to make it. Because of you, I am forever changed into an onion lover!
I made a big batch to take into work today and they inhaled it and kept raving over it. I kinda wanted to say I came up with it but couldn’t. This is so amazing! LOVE your website!
Teri
★★★★★
I work with Teri and this is so amazing! Thanks to her, she introduced a bunch of us to your site and we love it! My God I wanted to lick my monitor! I am so joining you on facebook and subscribing!
Thanks Teri! Are you making this for Friday? 🙂
★★★★★
Well thank you Kayla and welcome to the TKW Family! I look forward to talking with you on Facebook!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
★★★★★
Tee hee Well thank you so much Teri! I too am a converted onion lover! This is one of my all time favorite recipes!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
★★★★★