Cebollas Rellenas de Carne Asturianas

Cebollas rellenas de carne are Asturian, the meat-day cousin of the better-known onions filled with bonito. This is food from the mining valleys and home kitchens: whole onions hollowed out, packed with seasoned minced meat, then braised in tomato and white wine until the onion goes silky and the sauce turns deep and sweet. Esto es de Asturias, no de "España" a secas.

The step that decides the dish is the braise. The onions must sit low and steady, half-covered in sauce, long enough for their sharpness to disappear and their layers to soften without collapsing. Rush them and you get a hard onion around a cooked meatball. Give them time and the filling seasons the onion from inside while the sofrito, the slow onion base, thickens around them.

If you can't find the small sweet onions used there, choose medium yellow onions that are heavy for their size and no wider than 7cm. Bigger ones look generous but cook unevenly, and the filling dries before the onion surrenders. Use minced beef and pork together if you can; all beef works, but it eats firmer. Siempre sale, si lo sigues. It turns out if you follow it.

My Margin for this one is plain: don't hollow the onion too thin. Leave a wall of about 1cm, or the pot will punish you by opening them up before lunch.