Penne alla Genovese ($12.50) is perfectly al dente, with carrots, celery and onions cooked until meltingly sweet and flavored with a sprinkle of herbs.

Sauce Robert is made from chopped onions cooked in butter without color, a reduction of white wine, pepper, an addition of demi-glace and is finished with mustard.

His soubise is old-fashioned and compellingly new: onions cooked to death in stock, then finished with cream and served with a fried egg.

While onions cook, cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch wide pieces.

For instance I love French onion soup & would make it more often if the onions cooked for an hour without my full attention.

Scrub the potatoes and put them in the oven to bake after the onions have cooked for 15 minutes.

While the basic pizza dough does its hourlong rise, the onions that will be slathered on it must cook ever so slowly, to flirt with melting, but never browning.

Reduce the heat and let the onions cook slowly, until they brown.

As the onions cooked, they hissed, gradually softening and shrinking in volume.

In large nonstick skillet gently cook the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and prosciutto in hot olive oil, about 5 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.