A Public Service Announcement

(and a quick recipe as well)

First of all - the PSA - there is an EXCELLENT Kuhn Rikon sale on at the moment, so if you are thinking about buying a new or additional pressure cooker now is a good time to do so. It means you can actually get one for well under £100, especially if you haven’t bought through their website before as it will give you an additonal 20% off.

I am not affiliated with Kuhn Rikon in any way (perhaps I should be!) and I am not making any money from telling you this, but the deals are just too good to pass up.

You can find their pressure cookers here. And please share!

And because I don’t want to send out an email just for this, here is one of my most recent recipes, which garnered quite a bit of the good sort of attention on Instagram. It is hopefully going into my next book (I am rapidly approaching my end of October deadline for this which is why posts here have been scant), so consider this a little preview.

Baked Onions/Onion Gratin/Onion Soup

This is a recipe that gives you options and I spell some of these out at the end of the method – but usually what I will do is make an 8 onion portion which just about fits into a 24cm diameter pressure cooker, serve 3-4 halves each to me and my husband for lunch, then blitz the rest into – and I don’t say this lightly – what might be the best ever onion soup you’ve ever had. 2 lunches made in less than 20 minutes, start to finish.

2 tbsp olive oil

6-8 medium onions, depending on size and space

1 tsp herbs de Provence or dried thyme

Leaves from a large sprig tarragon, finely chopped (optional)

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

100ml white wine, dry sherry or Vermouth

100ml crème fraiche

100g gruyere, coarsely grated

Optional topping:

15g butter

75g coarse breadcrumbs

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Generous pinch chilli flakes (optional)

First prepare the onions – peel them carefully, leaving as much of the root intact as possible as you don’t want them to fall apart when they cook. Cut them in half widthways so all the rings are visible (as opposed to vertical from root to stem).

Heat your pressure cooker and add the olive oil. You need the oil to be hot for this – if you have an electric pressure cooker which has a very sensitive heat detector/burn sensor, you might want to do this stage in frying pan.

When the oil is hot, place the onions cut side down onto the base of the cooker and sear for several minutes. I usually put the timer on and walk away for 4-5 minutes, so I don’t fiddle with them too much. When they have developed a decent colour – the dark side of caramel – flip over. Sprinkle over the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the sherry vinegar over the onions – any that hits the base of the cooker will hiss and splutter, so be careful.

Pour the alcohol around the onions and immediately put the lid on. You should find a lot of steam is created and that the pressure will consequently rise very quickly. Adjust the heat so it is just high enough to maintain the pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Leave to drop pressure naturally.

While the onions are cooking, heat the butter in a frying pan. Melt the butter until it foams, then add the breadcrumbs. Stir until all the butter has been absorbed and the breadcrumbs have started to crisp up. Stir through the parsley and the chilli flakes if using.

Add the crème fraiche to the cooker and gently swirl so it combines with the pan juices. Now you have options – you can sprinkle with cheese and just cover and leave on a low heat to melt – this is what I usually do. You can transfer to a gratin dish and sprinkle with the cheese and put under a hot grill (or use an air fryer lid if you have one). And either way you can sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture.

What to do with these onions: (as well as just eat as, straight from the pan, some before you add the cream and cheese, some afterwards. Yes, this is what I do).

Serve them as a light meal with bread, with perhaps a tomato salad on the side.

Serve them as a side dish – especially good with roast chicken or a pork chop.

Break them up before you add the cheese and stir them and the cheese through some pasta.

Blitz until smooth and add chicken or vegetable stock for an excellent soup. A half portion of these onions will need 600ml stock. You can add the cheese to the soup or use it on bread for croutons.

working lunch of onion soup