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Living in lockdown is teaching us new things every day. If your household is anything like ours right now, there’ve been peaks and troughs in the vegetable department. Farm box deliveries for three Saturdays in a row took our onion supplies from zero to way too many. And then there was that half packet of linguine in the glass jar on top of the dresser. Oh and the thyme that came with the second farm box delivery. Which I’d frozen. (Did you know that thyme freezes perfectly? And frozen thyme offers a bonus: the tiny leaves just fall off if you shake the frozen thyme sprigs over the pasta sauce in the pot.)

Where did all these onions come from? And then we found five more red onions in the crisper, forgotten but fresh as ever. And I’d had the foresight to buy little cartons of cream and freeze them. So I defrosted one and set to work with red onions, garlic, thyme, tomato paste and linguine. I hadn’t expected much, but the result was so surprisingly good I decided to share it as today’s lockdown recipe of the day.

The trick is to caramelise, then cream.

Ingredients

(For 2)

2 large red onions, sliced thinly

2 tsp minced garlic

115 g tomato paste

200 ml cream

3 or 4 thyme sprigs

Grated Parmesan

Salt and black pepper to taste

Olive oil

Linguine (sufficient for 2 servings, about half a packet), cooked al dente in briskly boiling water, and drained

Method

Slice the onions and sauté in olive oil on a low heat, stirring, giving them enough time to caramelise and the sweetness of the onion to develop. Add garlic, tomato paste and thyme and braise with the onions. Braising tomato paste cuts the acidity. If you prefer more sweetness, sprinkle in a little sugar and braise for a minute or two more. (I find red onions have enough of their own sweetness; they’re a good choice when a recipe calls for shallots and you don’t have any.)

Add the cream and stir while the elements combine, season with salt and pepper and simmer while stirring for a few minutes more. Remove from the heat.

Drain the cooked linguine, reserving a tablespoon of the pasta water. Toss the linguine in the sauce, adding the spoonful of pasta water. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan.

TGIFood Tip: What else is in those cupboards over there and lying forgotten in the fridge or freezer? Check them out; chances are there’s another pasta recipe waiting for your attention. DM/TGIFood

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