Braised Cipollini Onions
The thickening part happens during the last 15 minutes of cooking, so don’t get nervous if the onions seems soupy for most of the cooking time. It all comes together quite nicely at the finish line. We love smashing these onions on slices of baguette. They also liven up salad, and the resulting syrupy sauce is a nice way to flavor salad dressing—that is, if you haven’t soaked it all up with your bread.
Ingredients
- 200 grams cipollini onions peeled (10 to 12 onions)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated natural cane sugar
- Red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Finely chop one of the onions (leave the rest whole).
- Add the oil to an 8-inch skillet. Heat it over medium-low flame until shimmering. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook until slightly softened and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining whole onions, stirring to coat them with the oil. Season with salt, and add the sugar, making sure to give it a good stir. Add enough vinegar to cover the onions halfway. Add enough water to increase the liquid amount just enough to almost cover the onions. Increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cover the pan loosely with a lid (some steam should be able to escape from the pan). Let the onions cook slowly, 1 to 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has mostly evaporated, leaving a thick, sticky sauce in the pan. Serve as part of an antipasto platter, or with a baguette to smear the onions onto. Save any remaining sauce once the onions are eaten—it adds a nice flavor to homemade salad dressing.