Whole baked red onions
With sage, honey and walnut dressing
Whole baked red onions
Serves 6 - 8 as a starter or side salad
DifficultyNot too tricky
Chasing Smoke: Cooking over fire around the Levant
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Ingredients
- 4 large red onions , skin on
- olive oil , for brushing
- flaky sea salt , to finish
- FOR THE DRESSING
- 80 g walnuts , (2¾ oz)
- 10 sage leaves , rolled up and cut into really thin strips
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
- 1 teaspoon mild chilli flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- a little freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- a few sprigs of mint , leaves picked (about 15 g / ½ oz)
Tap For Method
Chasing Smoke: Cooking over fire around the Levant
Tap For Ingredients
Method
- Halve the red onions through the core, keeping the skin on. Brush the cut faces with oil and place cut-side down on a hot grill. Roast for about 12 minutes till the cut surface is black and charred, then flip to skin-side down and leave to cook for 5 minutes more. Remove to a plate to chill till they are cool enough to handle.
- Make the dressing while you wait. Roast the walnuts over the fire for about 8 minutes in an old sieve or dry frying pan, stirring occasionally. Slightly crush them and mix with all the other dressing ingredients apart from the mint leaves.
- Break the cooled onion halves into petals, discarding the outer skins. Set the petals with their charred rims upwards on a large serving plate. Just before serving, thinly shred the mint leaves and mix into the dressing. Drizzle all over the onion petals and sprinkle with a little sea salt to finish.
Tips
To cook without a BBQ:
– Use a lightly oiled, preheated griddle pan on your stove top and cook just as you would on the fire, but beware, your house will get pretty smoky!
