What does a high-end chef cook at home? In his latest book, the MasterChef: The Professionals judge swaps kitchen whites for a domestic apron and shares the recipes he enjoys rustling up for family. Vegetables are the heroes in these four dishes – destined to become your family favourites, too

Roasted onion tarte tatin with cheddar mascarpone

“We of ten make a sweet tarte tatin to use up a glut of apples or pears. This savoury version is made with onions, but the principle is the same. Generous seasoning is important to complement the strong onion flavour and sweet caramel ”

Serves 4-6

Hands-on time 45 min

Oven time 35-40

Specialist kit 20-23cm ovenproof frying pan

• 300g all-butter puff pastry

• Plain flour for dusting

• 100g unsalted butter, cubed

• 4-5 medium onions, halved from top to bottom (skin on and root attached)

• 75g caster sugar

• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar

• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or Henderson’s Relish for vegetarians)

• 2 star anise

• 2 thyme sprigs, plus extra to garnish

For the cheddar mascarpone

• 150g mature cheddar, grated

• 100g mascarpone

1 Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured worksurface to 3-4mm thick, then use a roughly 24cm diameter plate as a template to cut the pastry into a circle. Put the pastry disc in the fridge to chill until needed.

2 Put a large ovenproof frying pan over a high heat and add 25g of the butter. Once it begins to foam, put the onions in the pan cut-side down and season. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the flat surfaces of the onions are well browned. Remove from the pan and cool. Once cool, remove any dry layers of onion/skin and discard. Keeping a small piece of root attached, slice each onion half lengthways into 2 wedges.

3 Heat the oven to 170°C fan/ gas 5. Clean the frying pan, then put it over a medium heat. Once hot, add the caster sugar and cook slowly for 5 minutes, swirling it gently if necessary to help it melt but not stirring, until you have a deep amber caramel. Just before it begins to smoke, turn off the heat, then deglaze the pan with the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Keep stirring gently. Once the liquids are incorporated, add the remaining cubed butter and whisk until emulsified. You may find it easier to add the butter in small batches to keep the caramel from splitting. Allow the caramel to set for 5 minutes.