Bits Of Dust

Archive for October 6th, 2007

Mario Batali posted a recipe for Sweet and Sour Onions over at Serious Eats last week and I meant to post it here. In fact, I thought I already did, and I went looking for it tonight so I could make it, and realized I forgot to post it.

Is this what aging feels like? Anyway, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 pounds cipolline or small red or white onions, about 30, root and stem trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
Pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Brig 6 quarts of water to a boil, and add the onions. Lower to a simmer, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and peel.

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, warm the olive oil with the bay leaves while the onions are cooking. Turn the peeled onions in the olive oil, and cook for 5 minutes, until just browned. Add the vinegar and sugar, raise the heat slightly, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vinegar-sugar mixture starts to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaves. Turn the onions gently to coat thoroughly with syrupy mixture. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Serve at room temperature.

These are absolutely delicious.