Pan-Fried Onion Dip

Alright so I know the photo is not that great and the dip may not look that awesome but believe me when I tell you your life is not complete without it! Especially if you let the onions caramelize longer than the recipe suggests. It's extremely addictively good. While I was making this, I had deja vu. So I went to one of the Best of Bridge cookbooks and looked up the recipe for "Caramelized Onion Dip". That's odd - it's exactly the same, except the Barefoot Contessa recipe uses 2 onions (which admittedly does make it better). But I was just really surprised to see that it's literally the same, including cooking method and times.

Anyway, delicious. Make it! We ate it with baby carrots, celery, and toasted whole wheat pita cut up into little triangles. It's a heavy dip (with the mayo, cream cheese and sour cream) so I think vegetables are the perfect thing to eat it with.

Pan-Fried Onion Dip
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Yield: 2 cups

2 large yellow onions (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

Put the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Serve at room temperature.