How to make sweet and sour onions with baby beetroot and golden raisins

Think onions and you may think big, bold and assertive. But snap up smaller onions when you can find them, and you’re often in for something much milder and sweeter.

Good bets are cipollini which are small Italian onions (the name means literally small onion) which have a slightly flattened shape and thin skin.

They’re ideal roasted or cooked slowly to bring out their natural sweetness. They’re a good choice for pickling too.

But there are other small onions too like purple torpedo onions that are best eaten fresh (they look like a giant, purple spring onion).

Add some herbs, a hit of sherry and sherry vinegar and you have a winning combination. Roasted beets tossed in at the very end give another hint of sweetness.

You could add some goat’s cheese or a hand-full of rocket and instead of raisins substitute another dried fruit like prunes or apricots. A sprinkling of chopped nuts wouldn’t go amiss either.

Sweet and sour onions with baby beetroot and golden raisins

Serves 4

1 bunch baby beetroot, about 250-300g
4-500g small onions
25g butter
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
50ml Pedro Ximenez sherry
60ml Sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp runny honey
75g golden raisins
200ml water
Salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 175°C/350°

Trim the beetroot stalk, leaving a few centimetres at the top. Clean but don’t peel the beetroot. Slice them in half and place them on a large sheet of aluminium foil. Drizzle olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss the beetroot to ensure they’re coated with the oil then close up the foil to form a packet. Place the packet on a baking sheet and bake in the pre-heated oven until you can insert a knife easily into the beetroot, about 35-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and slip off the outer skin, leaving the root and stem intact.

While the beetroot is cooking, slice the onions in half, removing the outer papery layer and trimming the root but leaving enough intact to hold the halves together. Heat the butter in a pan that is large enough to hold the onions in a single layer. Add the thyme and bay leaf and then the onions, cut side down. Add the Pedro Ximenez sherry, sherry vinegar, honey, golden raisins and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes then gently turn the onions over. Cover again and continue cooking until you can insert a knife into the thickest part of the onion easily.

The liquid should reduce down but if it gets too low, top up with a bit more water. Remove the lid, add the cooked beetroot, cut side down and cook for a few more minutes. The liquid should be thick and sticky and coat the vegetables nicely. Taste and if it’s too sweet, then add a dash more vinegar. Plate and serve warm.

@Juliapleonard