Red onion daquoise with roasted tomato

Prepared this as starter for Christmas gathering in a friend's house. The criteria of creation is that it should look sophisticated, must be pre-cooked, easy to transport and as one of the participants is allergic to gluten - non flour based.

1. Standard daquoise is a biscuit made with equal quantity (by weight) of whisked to soft peak egg white, almond powder, melted butter and sugar, (a standard recipe is 80gm each or 3 egg whites) gently folded together and piped into disc, baked at 170˚C until golden and dry, around 20 minutes. It will stay crispy in a zip lock bag for a long time.

2. As the base of this starter, I cut down sugar by half, added half teaspoon salt and a lot of black pepper.

3. Cut red onion into thin strips, (a small one for each portion), cook at medium heat in half olive oil and half butter, turning regularly, until golden and caramelized, at least 30 minutes. Season with a little soya sauce and balsamic vinegar.

4. Cut cherry tomatoes into halves, laid on baking tray with cut side up, drizzle olive oil on top, bake at 200˚C until edges slightly burnt, around 30 minutes. Sprinkle salt on top.

5. Dry roast pine nut in a pan.

6. Wash rocket and made a dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and sugar. Only mix together before serving.

Use potato peeler to make strips of parmesan cheese from a block.

7. To serve, put daquoise on plate, heap a big spoonful of warmed up onion in the centre, place a few roasted tomatoes on top, sprinkle a few pine nuts around, topped with a piece of parmesan and a rocket for flavor and decoration, a small side salad of rocket with dressing and a few roasted tomato.