Nigella Lawson's Supper Onion Pie

When I read in the Daily Telegraph that this recipe was considered one of Nigella's best 10 recipes of all time, I had to give it a try. This Supper Onion Pie is similar to a red onion tarte tatin, except that a cheese scone dough is used instead of pastry.

The recipe was quick and simple to put together - the longest procedure is slowly caramelising the onions until they are soft and nicely coloured. The onion layer is flavoured with thyme and the cheese scone dough also has mustard in it for a bit more flavour. I cooked the onions in the same skillet that I used to bake the pie in, which made things even simpler - less washing up!

I found this a pleasant dish to eat, but nothing more outstanding than that. The scone dough was quite thick compared to pastry, and I thought it needed more flavouring - more mustard or some herbs maybe, or even some dried chilli flakes. My husband was even more critical - I was told in no uncertain terms not to make it again unless I could make it more flavoursome - he suggested leaving out the cheese and using garlic and coriander leaves in the base and some suitable spices in the onions.

I don't have a lot of Nigella's recipes in my regular repertoire, but I don't think this is getting into our top 10!

Apologies for the photo of the whole pie - it had to be taken in artificial light. The last couple of months has been so dismal and dark that it's been really difficult to get enough natural light photograph anything well, even in daylight - roll on Spring, and longer days!

Mushroom, Sage and Mustard Quiche

This quiche made me realise what a difference it makes to use cream in the filling. Previously, I've always used eggs and milk, but there was a pot of double cream in the fridge, leftover from Easter, and I didn't want to use it in calorific desserts which we shouldn't be eating. Using it in the quiche made the custard part of the filling more full-bodied and richer in flavour.

I made a traditional shortcrust pastry mix, using half lard and half butter, but before adding the water I added in a heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and 25g finely grated parmesan cheese. I baked the pastry case blind, and also brushed the inside of the case with beaten egg, which I dried out in the hot oven, but it still didn't stop a soggy bottom.

The filling was half a medium onion, finely diced, sauteed with 400g of sliced mushrooms and a crushed clove of garlic, until there was no excess water in the pan. I added half a dozen shredded sage leaves towards the end of cooking and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. The custard was 3 large eggs, 150mls double cream, 50mls semi-skimmed milk plus the egg left over from egg-washing the case (about half an egg). After the mushroom filling and the custard were in the case I sprinkled over about 25g finely grated mature cheddar and baked the quiche at 150C for about 40 minutes, turning up the temperature a little at the end, to make sure the filling browned a little.

The sage complimented the mushrooms better than I expected, and the cheese and mustard in the pastry added an extra savoury note - not overwhelming, but it was noticeable that something extra had been added. Apart from the soggy pastry bottom, this was a very succesful dish.