We’ve been seeing more and more of these little guys recently and we couldn’t be happier. Cipollini onions (pronounced chip-oh-lee-knee) were once a rare treat only to be found at fancy restaurants and the occasional gourmet market. We’re glad they’re finally getting their due attention...Now what exactly are they?
Their name literally means “little onion” in Italian, and indeed they are! Cipollinis are about the size of a golf ball with a slightly flattened appearance. They’re thin-skinned and have translucent white flesh with more residual sugar than your average yellow or white onion.
Which makes them incredible for roasting or caramelizing. Roasted whole in the oven or cooked in a little butter on the stove top, cipollinis become soft and practically melt in your mouth. Those residual sugars caramelize and concentrate, leaving behind none of the astringent raw onion flavor.
Seriously, you haven’t had caramelized onions until you’ve made them with cipollini onions. Even you onion-haters out there might be swayed!
The only downside to cipollinis is getting that thin skin off. We usually use a paring knife to pull off strips from root to stem. You can also boil the onions for a few seconds to loosen the skin. It’s a pain, but definitely worth it for the sweet onions beneath.
Here are a few recipes to try:
• Cipollini and Mushroom Tart from the Kitchn
• Roasted Cipollini Onions from White on Rice
• Potato Salad with Cipollini Onions, Olives, and Fennel from Martha Stewart
How do you use cipollinis in your cooking?
Related: Raw to Sweet: How to Change the Intensity of Onions
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Haha, I read the title as "What is the DEAL with cipollini onions?!?" As in, why are they such a PITA to peel? Because I know I've had that thought when I have to peel a big batch for caramelizing. Delicious though!
Some time ago, my mother returned from a trip to Italy with a taste for sweet & sour cippolini onions... and also with a jar of them. Yum!
When she lamented the dearth of cippollini agrodolce on local market's shelfs, I tasted an onion from her dwindling supply and reverse-engineered a recipe for making them at home. (I almost never self-link here, but this recipe is too good to keep to myself.) They keep well in the fridge and they're a great easy way to dress up a simple dinner, a salad, or a sandwich. I list a few serving suggestions after the recipe, too.
My local co-op has cipollini pickled in balsamic, which I've been devouring in frankly embarrassing quantities. Cipollini in balsamic with spinach, sliced strawberries and chevre was a highlight of strawberry season this year.
Perhaps Mario Cipollini could help:
http://tenerife-training.net/Tenerife-News-Cycling-Blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/mario-cipollini-specialized-zebra-skinsuit.jpg
pollyannashandbook, that's what my linked recipe is for! (At least, I strongly suspect it's the same thing.) Though if you have a source for buying them locally, that's probably even better than making them; that boiling vinegar smell is potent.
Try this awesome Mario Batali recipe, as adapted by the Smitten Kitchen:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/balsamic-glazed-sweet-and-sour-cippoline/
Thanks, Elsa Macbebekin, for confirming my hunch! Those things are addicting, aren't they?
P.S. I couldn't agree more with the point you made on your site that condiments such as this have a wonderful knack of transforming random ingredients into a proper (and special) meal.