Back to basics

I didn't actually know what a blog was until early December last year, when as a big lover of Christmas, and especially Christmas food, I found myself hunting for interesting recipes, and in particular recipes for Swedish saffron buns, on the internet.

It was during this search that I stumbled across Anne's Food, and this particular post. The photograph accompanying the recipe was so salivating and the recipe itself, which combines two of my favourite flavours: saffron and marzipan, really intrigued me. I spent days trawling through Anne's previous entries; cooking and baking along the way, and slowly the idea of having my own blog was conceived.

And so the ramblings began. In the beginning my blog mainly concerned itself with food and the occasional musing over the origins of various traditions. It took a while for me to grasp the concept of visiting other peoples blogs, and so for ages the only blog I ever visited was Anne's Food. She never visited me and so I remained in the shadows for eons.

Now, food isn't exactly one of my hobbies. I like cooking and I love eating, but that's about it. So a blog dedicated to this subject didn't really stand a chance. And as I started visiting other blogs, I realised I much preferred to read, and write, about observations on the ordinary things in life.

But last week I came across this recipe, and it turned out so incredibly delicious (my partner and I were both sitting there looking at each other in disbelief: how could something so simple be so fabulously yummy?) that I felt inspired to share it with you.

Asparagus pissaladiere

Serves 4 (or two really hungry people)

50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
750g red onions, peeled and sliced very thinly
Sprig of fresh rosemary
One bay leaf
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 packet ready-rolled puff pastry
1 bundle of fresh asparagus
1 egg, beaten
About 100g of crumbled feta cheese

1. Melt butter and oil in a saucepan. Add onions and stir well to coat, then cover and cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the herbs and sugar, increase the heat and cook until the onions have caramelised. Leave to cool. Discard the rosemary and bay leaf.

3. Turn on the oven to 200c

4. Place puff pastry on a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, score a border approximately 2cm from the edge, be careful so you don’t cut all the way through.

5. Trim the asparagus and cut in half. Pile caramelised onions into the centre and spread to the inner edge of the border. Place the asparagus on top, season with freshly ground black pepper. Brush the border with the beaten egg and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes until the pastry has risen and is golden brown. Be careful so the pastry doesn’t burn. Reduce the oven temperature to 150c and bake for a further 10-15 minutes. Add the crumbled feta for the last 5 minutes.

Serve with a fresh salad, drizzled with a little bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

Enjoy!