Jones. I don't love the taste of raw red onion - any tips on any tweaks I can make to get around this yet still have the red onion incorporated?

It's funny you asked this... I pickled some red onion to add to the toppings I was making for arepas just last night. Quick pickling them would allow you to add the onion but remove some of the bite associated with it. Here's how I usually do it. Heat a half cup of white, cider or red wine vinegar with a spoonful of sugar and about a teaspoon of salt. pour over a container with thinly sliced raw red onions and add fresh lime juice to top up the container, just to barely cover the onions. refrigerate for about an hour or until the onions are uniformly pinkish red.

Hi Fanny, I would just omit the onion as the Tahini is the real flavor driver here. Or try some sliced shallots or even better, sliced scallions. Like any pasta dish, you can add practically anything you like. I might add thin sliced red cabbage to give some color and crunch in place of the onion. Good luck and let us know what you use and how it works out. You can also ask Alexandra for suggestions

Agree with ktr about the water-soak - it removes some of the bite.
Other possibilities:
*keep the raw red onion, but reduce the amount considerably, even down to a tablespoon, to give just a hint of its flavor
*whether using original or reduce amount of onion, grate on a micro-plane, so you get almost a liquid version, dispersed among the noodles.

I've read that soaking an onion in water helps if you don't like raw onion.
Otherwise, try sautéing the onion prior to using.