Pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions

New year, new recipe is going very well and I'm not sorry at all I came up with this challenge as it's great fun and makes me discover new dishes, not just leaf through cookbooks thinking "mmh, that looks nice" and end of story. I now actually make all these nice-looking things I've never tried, at least once a week but often more than that! The pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions is from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte, a book I very much enjoyed reading, it's funny, touching, teaches you a lot about cooking and ingredients and what's more, the recipes are mostly completely mouthwatering. The author may be a wee bit patronising here and there but I decided to just generously "overread" those passages. Hesser thinks every cook should have a repertoire, dishes to rely on as you know they are a success. This pasta recipe is part of her repertoire and it may very well become part of mine. This is so simple to make but it tasted gorgeous, rich and silky but still not overly heavy. The onions taste delightfully sweet when cooked this way. I always have trouble when quantities are indicated in cups and here I couldn't be bothered to figure out how it would convert into the metric system so I just estimated amounts. Also, I misread 6 cups of onions (for four) as six onions and used one instead of about one and a half cup. I liked it that way but use more if you like. Not done with altering the recipe, I substituted sheep's milk yoghurt for cow's milk yoghurt.

Pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions (serves 4)

• 2 cups sheep's milk yoghurt
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cups coarsely chopped onions
• sea salt
• 1 pound tagliatelle
• 1 cup coarsely grated kefalotyri cheese or pecorino romano

Line a colander with cheesecloth and set over a bowl in the sink. Add the yoghurt and let drain for two hours (I omitted this step for lack of time. I used Total yoghurt which is already drained, though.) Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. (I seasoned the onions with a little salt at this stage). Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. As the water heats, add enough salt so you can taste it. Drop in the pasta and cook until soft, not al dente. Combine the drained yoghurt with 1/2 cup pasta water and mix well. Drain the pasta and toss with the yoghurt mixture. Divide the pasta among four warm bowls. Sprinkle generously with cheese and spoon over the caramelised onions and their juices.