How to Make Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette

If you want to impress yourself and your guests, try this deeply flavored salad dressing. Shallots are roasted, then pureed into a vinaigrette. The deep, sweet flavor is also good on seafood, roasted vegetables and beef. This recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup olive (not virgin) oil
• 2-3 tbsp. finely chopped chives
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegars
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 4 shallots
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp. sherry vinegar
• Salt And Pepper

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Peel and core the shallots.

3. Halve the shallots lengthwise and toss with some of the oil. Be generous.

4. Heat a small ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add a little oil to the pan, then place each shallot half in the pan cut-side down. They should be sizzling rapidly.

5. Cook on the stovetop for about 2 minutes, until the bottoms of the shallots begin to turn golden, then place the pan in the oven.

6. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the shallots brown and soften. Don't let them burn. Let the shallots cool in the pan.

7. Scrape the shallots and their oil into a food processor.

8. Add all remaining ingredients except the chives and the remaining oil. Season well with salt and pepper.

9. Start the food processor. Pour in the oil in a thin steady stream.

10. Shut off the machine, pour the vinaigrette into a container, and stir in the chives.

11. Keep in mind that the dressing will begin to separate after a few hours. Serve it soon, or you can whisk or shake it back together when ready to serve.

Tips & Warnings

• Another way of making this dressing is to caramelize the shallots in a sauté pan instead of roasting them. (See the Related eHow "How to Caramelize Onions" for tips on caramelizing.) They'll get much darker this way, and actually taste more "roasted" than if you really roasted them. Add two extra shallots if you do this to compensate for volume they'll lose when cooked.