Grilled salmon with creamy baked onions

This amazing recipe from Sophie Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights lives up to its name. It’s exactly the sort of recipe that would never have passed my lips before The Dissident Diet: cream and cheese in the same pan! It has become a midweek staple because it’s easy, quick and delicious.

Ingredients

• 4 small yellow onions
• Salt and pepper
• 142ml  single/light cream
• 50g  grated Parmesan or Gruyère
• 2 fat skinless fillets of wild salmon
• light olive oil
• 1 lemon

Method

1.To begin, peel the onions and boil them whole in a pan of water for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.
2.When the onions are tender, take them out of the water and cut them in half. Place them in a heatproof shallow dish, season them, add the cream and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Put them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
3.When the onions have been cooking for 15 minutes, wash and season the salmon. Pour a generous slick of light olive oil on each fillet and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over each. Heat a grill pan and sear the salmon for about five minutes on each side.
4.By now the onions should be bubbling and golden brown on top. Serve on a plate with the salmon and a plain green salad, with a sharp vinaigrette.

Serves 2.