This is a recipe for comfort food.

It involves taking the outer skin off a very large Spanish onion, slicing off any coarse bits at the top and bottom and putting the whole onion in a pot of water which has been brought to the boil. Leave it to simmer for a long time till it is soft, but just short of falling apart. This may well take over half an hour or longer. When removed from the water and placed on a plate, you should be able to press it from the sides and have the middle layers shoot upright from the top.

While it is simmering, make some cheese sauce in another pan. For cheese sauce, start with a roux (a knob of melted butter and a tablespoon of flour heated together into a dough on a low heat in a saucepan), which is kept moving and stirred to keep the lumps out with a wooden spoon while half a pint of milk is very slowly and gradually added to make a white sauce. You can add a spoonful of mustard if you like and then a couple of handfuls of strong grated cheese like cheddar which should melt into the sauce and thicken it. Pepper is nice too.

The sauce is poured over the onion, which will be soft, mild and sweet. It is quite nice with some crusty bread.