4 medium Walla Walla Sweet Onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs for garnish

Toast the pine nuts in a 350 degree oven for 6 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool. Caution: pine nuts burn easily. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and fire up an outdoor grill. Peel onions and cut them in half, top to bottom. Brush onions with oil and place cut side down on the preheated grill. Barbecue until grill marks form. Place on a cookie sheet and finish cooking in the oven until tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make the pine nut butter. Place the 1/2 cup pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until finely ground. Add butter, lemon zest, rosemary, black pepper and salt. Process until mixture is well blended. Spread the tender onions liberally with pine nut butter. Return to the oven to cook just until butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Serve onions warm, sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese and additional toasted pine nuts. Garnish plates with lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs. 

This recipe is from Tom Douglas of The Dahlia Lounge in Seattle.

Tarts take a while, but this one is worth it! Make it ahead of time and serve with a big salad for a light dinner on one of these hot summer nights. I'd love to claim this recipe as my own, but I pinched it from one of Delia Smith's early cookbooks. 

1/4 cup self-raising flour 
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour 
little salt 
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder 
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 stick butter 
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese 
1 1/2 lbs chopped onions 
2 tablespoons butter 
2 eggs, beaten
4 fluid ounces milk 
salt & freshly ground black pepper 
2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese 

Sift the flours, salt; mustard powder and cayenne into a bowl, and then rub in the butter until you get a crumbly mixture. Stir in the cheese and add enough cold water to make dough that leaves the bowl clean. Wrap the dough in plastic and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Melt the butter in a heavy based frying pan, add the onions, get them coated in the butter, cook them uncovered on a medium heat for approx 30 minutes, they have to be reduced and turned a deep brown. Stir from time to time, if they are still pale at the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat and cook for another 10 minutes until they have the right color. Preheat oven to 350F and put a baking sheet in the oven. Grease an 8 inch fluted flan tin, roll out the pastry and line the tin, prick the base with a fork, place the tin on the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with some beaten egg (from the filling) return to the oven for 5 minutes. Then spread the onions all over the base of the flan, mix the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper, and pour as much as possible over the onions, you might have some left it depends on how much the onions have reduced. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 30 minutes (on the baking sheet again) or until the filling is golden brown and puffy.