Balsamic Roasted Cipollini Onions

This dish is based on a favorite recipe for Caramelized Shallots, from Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen blog.  It’s such a favorite, in fact, that it has been a fixture on the Thanksgiving menu for quite a few years now.  In the original recipe, the shallots are peeled and seared with salt in so much butter that you might accidentally summon Paula Deen.  After a good caramelization, they get splashed with red wine vinegar and then transferred to the oven to roast until they are irresistibly tender and deeply colored.  Over the years, the red wine vinegar has given way to balsamic, as it imparts a much more complex flavor and even deeper color.  It also became evident that this preparation would lend itself just as well to any member of the allium family.  When considering the next best option to shallots, these small, flat, sweet cipollini onions quickly rose to the top of the list.

Naturally, you can opt to use the butter like in the SK version, but for our purposes here, we wanted to offer a vegan (but no less spectacular) version.  The butter was replaced with olive oil and the overall amount of fat was reduced by half, making the dish more heart-healthy.  Always a plus, especially when you don’t have to sacrifice any flavor, like, at all.

 Cipollini can be a little challenging to peel, but a quick trim of the root end, a few minutes in boiling water followed by a shock in an ice bath, and that stubborn outer layer will slide right off.  The final product is spectacular enough that those extra steps are well worth the effort.

The initial browning is helped along by a tablespoon of sugar, after which you add the balsamic vinegar and continue cooking on the stovetop until the vinegar begins to reduce, then everything goes into the oven.  That’s when the real magic happens.  The vinegar reduces even more, combining with the olive oil and juices from the onions to make a divine, vinaigrette-style “sauce.”

These onions can be served a few ways.  They make a brilliant, slightly unconventional side when served hot.  If left to cool to room temperature, they make a stellar addition to any antipasto platter.  They just might steal the spotlight from the other denizens of said platter.  If there happen to be any left over, you can refrigerate them and use them as the topper for a simple salad for the next day’s lunch.  They’ll even supply their own vinaigrette, which is ever so considerate of them.  We love a recipe that can do double (or even triple) duty.

The onions themselves caramelize even further, the color being helped along by the vinegar.  What you end up with are tender, enticingly browned and ridiculously flavorful little orbs.  As a side note, this is one of those savory recipes that will leave the kitchen—actually, the entire house—bathed in mouthwatering aromas.  Brace yourselves.

The other great thing about this dish is that showcases perfectly how a few simple ingredients can come together to create a fairly broad flavor profile, touching on sweet, tangy, salty, savory and spicy without a lot of fuss or expense.  It has left us wondering how this technique will work with whole peeled garlic cloves…Could be dangerous. We’ll keep you posted.  Enjoy!

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen.

Balsamic Roasted Cipollini Onions

 

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Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 pound cipollini onions, peeled
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 dashes red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch saute pan, add the onions and sugar, salt and pepper and red pepper, and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until bottoms of onions are well browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vinegar, toss well, and cook on stove an additional 5 minutes, until vinegar begins to reduce.
3. If your saute pan is ovenproof, place it in the oven to roast. If not, transfer to a baking dish and roast in the oven. Cook until onions are fork tender, about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the onions.

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