Baked onions, lentils and cheese sauce

Name: Baked onions, lentils and cheese sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Cuisine: European, Mediterranean
Ingredients: onions 4, large and sweet; bay leaves 2; onions 2, medium; olive oil 2 tbsp; garlic 4 cloves; brown lentils 200g dry; chopped tomatoes 1 x 400g can; plain flour 2 tbsp; olive oil 2 tbsp; milk 500ml; bay leaves 2; mature cheddar cheese 150g; grated parmesan 4 tbsp

5 steps

Prep:10minCook:1h 30min

The bay leaves don’t add a fat lot of flavour to the onions, but they do, I find, take the edge off the smell of the boiling onions. That said, they make a subtle difference to the cheese sauce – as does a little patience. The best cheese sauces are those that you have allowed to cook slowly, leaving them to bubble and blip sleepily, with just the occasional stir to stop them from sticking. This is not a dish to be hurried.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 04:01:37 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories589.3 kcal (29%)

Total Fat26.7 g (38%)

Carbs59.7 g (23%)

Sugars13.5 g (15%)

Protein30.9 g (62%)

Sodium498.1 mg (25%)

Fiber8.1 g (29%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

4onions

large and sweet

2bay leaves

For the filling

2onions

medium

2 Tbspolive oil

4garlic cloves

200gbrown lentils

dry

1 x 400gchopped tomatoes

can

For the sauce

2 Tbspplain flour

2 Tbspolive oil

500mlmilk

2bay leaves

150gmature cheddar cheese

4 Tbspgrated parmesan

Instructions

Step 1

Peel the large onions, then bring them to the boil in 1.5 litres of water. Add the bay leaves then lower the heat to a simmer. Leave to cook, partially covered with a lid, for a good hour – maybe a little longer depending on your onions, until they are tender to the point of a skewer. Drain the onions and discard the water.

Step 2

Meanwhile, make the stuffing. Peel the medium onions then roughly chop them. Warm the oil in a deep pan and stir in the chopped onions. Peel and crush the garlic then add to the pan and continue cooking until the onions are pale gold and translucent. It is worth taking your time over this. The longer the onions cook, with the occasional stir, the sweeter they will be.

Step 3

Tip the lentils into the onions and garlic, add the canned tomatoes and their juice, and then a can (400ml) of water. Bring to the boil, season with salt and black pepper and leave to simmer for 35 minutes until the mixture has started to thicken. Scoop the insides from the boiled onions with a teaspoon, chop them and stir into the lentil filling.

Step 4

Make the cheese sauce by cooking the flour and olive oil together for a couple of minutes in a heavy-based saucepan, stirring it to a smooth paste. Pour in the milk, add the bay leaves and bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly until the sauce starts to thicken. Season, then lower the heat so the sauce barely blips. Leave, with the occasional stir, over a very low heat for a good 20 minutes. Stir in the grated cheddar and set aside. Set the oven at 180C fan.

OvenPreheat

Step 5

Place the boiled onions in a large baking dish. Fill their hollows with some of the lentil stuffing, spoon any remaining filling into the base of the dish. Spoon the cheese sauce over and around the onions. Scatter the grated parmesan over the top then bake for 30 minutes until golden and bubbling.