Smoked and Stuffed Vidalia Onions

Directions

• Take both onions and chop off the bottom (root side) so that they can stand upright. Also, chop off a small portion of the top before coring. Carefully scoop out the inside of the onions (from the top) so that the exterior of the onion is roughly 1/4'' to 1/3'' thick. Ideally a melon baller is to be used to make this a quicker process.
• Take half of the removed onion pieces and save them for the filling. The other half can be save for another dish.
• Coat both onions with olive oil and apply the seasoning over the exterior of both onions. Place them in a small pan (standing upright) to make it easier to move them around.
• Heat up a frying pan to medium heat. When hot, add olive oil, red peppers, celery, and onions for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the minced garlic to the pan with the Panko, mozzarella, pasta sauce, and more seasoning for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, before removing the pan from the heat, add the parsley and stir into the mixture.
• Place the sauce mixture into the cored onions until they are filled all the way up.
• Heat up your smoker / grill to 350 degrees indirect, add wood chips / chunk of your choice (I used a bourbon barrel bung), and place the onions on the smoker for about 45 minutes.
• During the last 20 minutes, add some additional Panko to the top of the onions. During the last 5 minutes add some additional mozzarella.
• Once the onions are cooked and tender, remove from the smoker, add hot sauce and additional parsley to the tops of the onions, and dig in. They are pretty strong, so I suggest splitting one onion with someone else.