Recipes "Onion"

Chana masala is a chickpea curry in a tangy onion and tomato sauce. It is a good weeknight dish, it costs very little, and it tastes even better the day after, which makes it a natural choice for…

Chili sin carne, "chili without meat", is a thick, spicy stew of beans, tomatoes and peppers. It feeds a crowd for very little money, freezes well, and goes with rice, tortillas, baked potatoes or…

Falafel are crisp fried balls of ground chickpeas and herbs, green inside, eaten in pita bread with salad and tahini sauce, or on their own as a snack. They take some planning, as the chickpeas soak…

Gazpacho is a cold, raw soup of tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, blended smooth. On a hot day it is the most refreshing thing you can eat, and it needs no cooking at all. It…

This potato salad has no mayonnaise. Warm sliced potatoes are soaked in a hot dressing of stock, vinegar, onion and oil, and turn silky as they drink it up. It is served lukewarm or at room…

Mujaddara is a dish of lentils and rice cooked together and crowned with a big pile of deeply browned onions. It is cheap, filling and surprisingly rich in taste for such simple ingredients. Eat it…

Pumpkin soup is a smooth, orange, slightly sweet soup that most children like. Make it in autumn and early winter, when pumpkins and squashes are everywhere and cheap. Butternut squash, Hokkaido (red…

Ratatouille is a slow stew of summer vegetables cooked in olive oil: aubergine, courgette, peppers, onions and tomatoes. Make it at the end of summer when these vegetables are cheap and ripe. Serve…

Dal is a dish of split lentils or peas cooked until soft, then finished with spices fried in hot oil. Made with red lentils, it needs no soaking and is ready in half an hour, which makes it one of…

Kartoffelpuffer are German potato pancakes: grated raw potato and onion bound with egg and a little flour, fried flat in oil until crisp and brown. They are a cheap lunch or supper with apple sauce…

French onion soup is a dark, sweet soup of slowly caramelised onions, topped with toasted bread and melted cheese and finished under the grill. It turns the cheapest vegetable there is into a rich…

Leek and potato soup is mild, creamy and very cheap, the kind of soup that warms you up on a grey day. It needs five ingredients and half an hour.

Minestrone is a thick Italian vegetable soup with beans and a little pasta or rice. It is a meal in a bowl and a good way to use whatever vegetables are in season: there is no single correct recipe…

Risotto is rice cooked slowly in hot stock, stirred so its starch makes a creamy sauce, then finished with butter and cheese. With mushrooms, it is an autumn and winter favourite. It is not hard, but…

Shakshuka is eggs poached in a thick, spiced sauce of tomatoes and peppers, brought to the table in the pan and eaten with bread. It works for a late breakfast, a lazy lunch or a fast dinner when the…

The Spanish tortilla, tortilla de patatas, is a thick omelette of potatoes and onions slowly cooked in olive oil. Served warm or at room temperature, it is a lunch, a picnic dish, or tapas cut into…

Cotriade is a Breton fish soup of potatoes, onions and chunks of cheap fish such as mackerel and whiting, cooked together in one pot. It is eaten in two courses: first the broth, poured over toasted…

Cullen skink is a thick Scottish soup of smoked haddock, potatoes, onion and milk. It is smoky and filling, and with bread it makes a full meal on a cold evening. It takes about 50 minutes and only…

Flammkuchen, tarte flambée in French, is a very thin, crisp dough spread with crème fraîche and topped with sliced onions and smoked lardons. It bakes in a few minutes and is cut into strips at the…

Chili con carne, "chili with meat", is a spicy stew of beef, chilies and spices, here with tomatoes and beans. It is made in large pots for parties, game nights and cold weekends, and it tastes even…

Goulash is a beef and paprika soup-stew, red, warming and filling, with potatoes and vegetables. It is a one-pot dish for cold days, simmered slowly and better the next day.

Ragù alla bolognese is a thick meat sauce, cooked slowly for hours, with only a little tomato. It is the real ancestor of what the world calls "spaghetti bolognese". In Bologna it is served with…