DIVINE Sicilian Cipollina Catanese

Cipollina Catanese is one of the most delicious pastries I ate while I was in Catania, Sicily recently. These puff pastries are filled with a delicious mixture of soft cooked onion and tomato and are layered with ham and cheese. They are shaped into squares with each corner folded in. They could not be more delicious yet they are super simple to make! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.

Cipollina Catanese are named after the main ingredient: onion and the word "cipollina" means "little onion" in Italian. Sicilian food often has a sweet salty aspect to it and these have sweetness from onions and savoury from the cheese and ham. Cipollina Catanese is usually eaten as a snack or a quick bite on the go and you can find these easily in cafes and bakeries all around Catania.

Tips for Making Cipollina Catanese

1 - You can make Cipollina Catanese with or without the ham. Most of the ones we had in Sicily didn't have ham in them. You can also replace the ham with prosciutto or another meat if you prefer.

2 - These are delicious with scarmoza (smoked mozzarella) this is perfect as it gives it an additional flavour. Otherwise you can make a 50/50 mix of grated mozzarella and another smoked cheese like gouda.

3 - Make sure that the onion mixture is completely cool before using it or the heat will melt the butter in the pastry.

4 - I always use butter puff pastry for these. They taste so much better with an all butter puff pastry!

5 - Roll out your pastry a bit thinner so accommodate the filling. I find that using one sheet of pastry isn't quite enough and 2 layers is a bit thick and you end up with uncooked layers in the centre so rolling it out a bit thinner helps.

6 - Always freeze your puff pastries for 10 minutes or refrigerate them for 25 minutes before baking them to ensure that they rise properly.

7 - My biggest tip: double this recipe! It's great for entertaining or a pot luck and they are delicious served warmed up (heat them up in a 160C/320F oven for 5-8 minutes).

Whenever I arrive in a new city I have a hit list of foods that I want to eat. I call it my "hit list". And on the list of things that Catania was famous for were these Cipollina Catanese, Iris donuts, Olivetti and granita with brioche for breakfast. And while I came away from my first day in Catania with a newfound love of Cipollina Catanese, I left Catania without one important thing.

I remember Monica's words echoing in my ears before I left where she reminded me, "Don't forget a change of clothes". She flies to Europe and within Italy a lot so while I usually do, I made sure to do it this time and while I usually check in my make up bag, I decided to take it in my carry on. My big flight was delayed half an hour and I was flying into Charles de Gaulle Airport. It's an enormous airport that is not designed for the number of passengers that fly through it. I waited for my luggage to come out and I knew I would be pushing it to get to check in in time but a lovely lady and fellow passenger on the flight helped me sort myself out and waved me goodbye wishing me luck. The walk from gate 2F to 2B is not an easy one, it takes about 20 minutes with luggage and that's when running and there is no shuttle bus or train to take between between gates. I had just made it before they closed the flight and I boarded one of two ITA airways flights to Milan and then Catania.

When I reach Catania I had a feeling of dread that perhaps my luggage hadn't made it. I checked my airtag and there was my bag, at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The people at the lost luggage counter assured me that it would make it on the last 1am flight to Catania that night and that I would have my luggage in the morning. I woke up and checked my airtag again. My bag had moved, but only to Milan. I was getting all sorts of different messages. I was caught up in red tape and the incident numbers wouldn't work, nor would the websites they referred me to. I had no idea what to do. But I did have my trusty Airtag telling me when and where it was moving. And for the next four days while my luggage languished in different airports I watched it, willing it to come back to me. Occasionally I would make it beep in case someone near it had forgotten about it.

In the end it took ITA Airways 4 whole days to return my luggage to me. 1 day is fine, understandable even given the amount of bags they deal with but 4 days was definitely stretching the friendship!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had your luggage lost before? And how long did they take to return it?

Cipollina Catanese

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 + 23 minutes

Makes 6 cipollina Catanese pastries

• 550g/1.2lbs butter puff pastry (3 sheets), thawed in fridge
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 260g/9ozs brown or white onions, peeled
• 180g/6ozs tomato passata
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 slices ham (around 90g/3ozs)
• 200g/7ozs grated scarmoza cheese (or do 100g grated mozzarella, 100g smoked gouda)
• 1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Step 1 - First make the onion mixture as it has to cool. Mandolin the onions on the thinnest setting. Place a large pot or saucepan on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and stir lowering the heat so that the onions don't brown. Cook down for 20 minutes stirring to ensure that the onion softens all over adding more oil when needed. Add the passata and cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool (to hasten this, spread out on a large plate if you are short on time).

Step 2 - Line a large baking tray with parchment. Make sure that the puff pastry has completely thawed in the fridge. Take one 24x24cm/9.5x9.5inch sheet of puff pastry and cut it in half lengthways. Fold each rectangle over to create a square. Then roll it out gently to become a 15cm/5.9inch square.

Step 3 -Place the ham folded over in the centre. Top with 1.5 tablespoons of the cooled onion and tomato mixture and then 1/6 of the grated cheese. Fold over the opposite corners pinching them tightly so that they are secured. Then repeat with the other two opposite corners. Place on the baking tray and freeze your puff pastries for 10 minutes or refrigerate them for 25 minutes.

Step 4 -Preheat oven to 200C/400F fan forced. When the pastries are chilled, brush with the beaten egg all over and bake on parchment lined tray for 23 minutes or until golden.