4.09.2015

Cipollini Onions


Good evening friends! I have been wanting to post about cipollini onions for a while now. Although you may have seen them here and there on my blog, I've never dedicated a post to them. Cipollini onions were introduced to me in a cooking class that I attended last year at Elegant Eating. They were delicate, yet textured.. and sweet, yet tangy. The flat shape makes these onions perfect for roasting, and they are great to use whole!

Take one minute and think about a thick, juicy piece of marinated steak... let you mouth start salivating for just one bite. But wait... add one or two of these bad boys on top of that steak! You will never want a steak without them! My favorite way to cook cipollini onions are by roasting them in the oven with whole garlic cloves. They need about 30-45 minutes to develop their tenderness, and so well worth the wait! You can add a bit of balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, a bit of fresh parsley, chicken broth.. the sky is the limit!


I will tell you this, they are not easy to find! Ever play the game Where's Waldo? Then yes, you may understand what I'm talking about! I get lucky at Fairway market, but other local grocery stores don't carry them often. One time I was lucky enough to get charged for pearl onions, and didn't realize until I got home that I paid about .44 cents for 6 of them! They are very inexpensive, but rare enough to give that "wow" factor that dinner guests look for.

Tonight, my husband added them into the crock pot with a pork tenderloin. He made some root beer pulled pork from my blog, along with steamed broccoli and canned corn. Nothing better than pulled pork on a toasted seeded bun! Good job, honey!

Try a few of these onions out and let us know what you think!


1 comment:

  1. I wonder how much the prices of these onions vary by area? In So. Calif., I pay 50 cents to 1.50 per pound for red, white, and yellow onions. I pay 1.49/lb. for small white boiling onions. I pay 2.49/lb. for shallots. I pay 3.99/lb. for Cipollini onions, so they way up and above the costs of other onions. I can regularly buy the major onions varieties for 50 cents a pound; Cipollini onions are NEVER on sale.
    I do have one question however as I also really enjoy these onions. As the top is slightly concave and the onion is tiny, so they are difficult to peel. At 3.99 a pound, I also throw away too much of expensive onion and I also destroy part of their pretty appearance. I sometimes wonder after peeling and cooking, if I could have cooked them with the thin one layer tough skin on them. Would the thin skin hydrate and be edible of could I squeeze them out of their skins like roasted garlic cloves?
    So, the question is, do you roast with peel or peel them? Or, do you do a different preparation (blanch & peel for example)
    Thanks for the post (and hopefully answering my question).

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