Roasted onions with goat's cheese

Serves 4

No serious cook can survive without onions. I try to keep small onions and shallots in the fridge, avoiding having onion halves stinking the place out or going mouldy. If they take my fancy in the market, I'll have red onions, too. Before Christmas I bought a couple of lovely strings of flat Italian onions, called cipoline, from Borough Market. They look so good hanging in the kitchen I can't bring myself to take them off the string and use them.

I've had a log of St Tola goat's cheese made by Siobhan Ni Ghairbith in County Clare and decided to match it up with these simply roasted onions. You could also use Ravensoak, Ragstone or any soft log or crottin. With crusty bread this would make a supper dish, or serve as a starter or side dish.

8 medium sized white onions, or 4 red and 4 white onions
200g soft goat's cheese such as St Tola
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Put the onions, in their skins, on a baking tray lined with foil and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes then remove the foil and leave to cool. Remove the skins, quarter the onions and return to the tray. Season and spoon over the olive oil and return them to the oven for 30 minutes, or until the onions begin to colour a little and caramelise, turning them with a spoon every so often. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To serve, spoon on to plates with any of the cooking juices and a little more olive oil if you wish and break the goat's cheese into small pieces over the top. Add parsley, or chopped chives to the onion for colour if you like.