Prep your leeks. Slice them and clean the leeks, they are full of sand and grit. Put the sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water and let the sand go to the bottom. I do this a few times to get them really clean.

Slice your onions. I like the onions to all have a different shape and texture. The red onions are kept whole, and thinly sliced. I halved the sweet onions, and kept them on the thick side. The shallots are sliced thinly, and the garlic is minced.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add a few Tablespoons of butter to the pan. Add the red and sweet onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. You do not want to caramelize them, but cook them until they are really soft.

Take the first batch of onions out, and put them in a bowl. Add more butter, and add the leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Cook them until the are soft, about 10 more minutes, but still have some color to them.

Take the leeks out, and add some more butter. It is Thanksgiving, so we are not counting how much butter we are using are we? Add the pearl onions and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft.

By now, you should have a bowl of delicious, well-seasoned, soft onions.

And a saute pan with yummy onion bits. Add another Tablespoon of butter to the pan and add the garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, being careful to not burn it. (If you do, take it out and start over.)

Add the cream to the pan. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the cream begins to reduce.

Add the onions back into the pan.

Give a taste at this point. Make sure that the onions are well-seasoned.

Pour the creamed onions into either one big casserole dish, or individual ones. At this point, you can cover these and keep them in the fridge for 24 hours.

Make the crumb topping. Add the panko, Parmesan, parsley, and a few Tablespoons of melted butter to a bowl. Add some pepper.

Top the creamed onions with the panko crumb mixture.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until they are heated through and the top is brown and bubbly, about 45 minutes.