Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

Rick Stein made a lovely TV programme this year called ‘Long Weekends’. In one episode he visited Palermo and their famous street food market where he came across these little beauties: spring onions rolled in thin slices of pancetta or very thin slices of streaky bacon and roasted on a hot BBQ until the pancetta is crisp and the onion soft underneath. We now make about three each of these as a BBQ starter and they go down a real treat. We also make them with asparagus. Enjoy!

To make…

• Buy as many bunches of spring onions (or asparagus) as will give you 3 per diner and a couple of packs of good quality pancetta (I use Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the difference’ or Waitrose own brand), you’ll need one slice per onion. If you use streaky bacon it must be very thinly sliced or it won’t adhere to the onion and it will unravel during the cooking process.
• Prep the onions by trimming both ends and ensure they are clean and dry.
• Brush the whole onion lightly with a little olive oil and then wind a piece of pancetta or bacon around each one.
• Using tongs, add the onions onto a very hot BBQ and cook them on each side until they look crisp and golden – it will only take a few minutes. Longer than it will take to eat them anyway!