Lamb Hot Dogs With Caramelised Onion, Horopito & Scorched Tomato

Food styling, recipes & photography David Neville

	100ml canola oil
	800g white onion (about 4 medium onions), sliced as thinly as possible
	20g Kaituna dried horopito
	2 teaspoons salt
	80ml malt vinegar
	50g brown sugar
	600g ripe tomatoes, halved
	8 lamb sausages (I use Cameron Harrison)
	120g smoked cheddar cheese
	8 sourdough hot dog buns
	250ml ketchup
	mayonnaise and/or mustard, to serve

1.	Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot.
2.	Add the onions and cook over a moderate heat, stirring regularly, for 20 minutes to soften.
3.	Add the horopito and salt and continue to cook until the onions begin to develop a light colour.
4.	Add the malt vinegar and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes to reduce.
5.	Add the brown sugar, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for approximately 30 minutes stirring regularly until the onions become syrupy and caramelised.
6.	Remove from the heat and keep aside.
7.	Brush the tomatoes with oil, season with a healthy pinch of salt and place under a grill or on a barbecue and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side until they begin to blister and collapse.
8.	Remove from the heat and place in a heatproof bowl to rest for 10 minutes, then pulp with the back of a fork.
9.	Pierce the sausages with a knife tip and cook under a grill or on a barbecue until the juices run clear and fat is beginning to spurt. Remove from heat.
10.	Controversy incoming: I like my hot dog bun untoasted, but feel free to gently warm the buns.
11.	Grate the smoked cheese.
12.	To assemble the hot dogs, put a sausage in each roll, add a squirt of ketchup, load up caramelised onion and scorched tomato and top with cheese.
13.	Add mayonnaise and/or mustard to taste.