Cipolline in Agrodolce, Sweet and Sour Onions
Agrodolce, sour and sweet, is one of the oldest balancing acts in Italian cooking, a legacy of the raisins, vinegar, and spices that moved through Sicily and Venice by ship. Cipolline in agrodolce are small flat onions glazed until they are soft, glossy, and caught between tart and sweet, the kind of thing that sits on an antipasto board or beside a bean dish to cut its richness. The usual recipe reaches for sugar, but raisins do the same work and bring their own body, especially once the onions have browned in a dry pan to draw out the sweetness they already hold. Vinegar is the counterweight, and a good red wine vinegar keeps the dish from tasting flat. Peel the onions whole, blanch them so they cook evenly, and be patient with the glaze, which should reduce until it clings. Make it a day ahead and serve it cool.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Yellow onions, small, peeled and left whole
- 1/3 cup Raisins
- 3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 leaf Bay leaves
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, ground
Method
- Drop the whole peeled onions into boiling water for 2 minutes, then lift them out. Blanching loosens the outer skins, starts them cooking through, and keeps the outsides from toughening before the centers soften. Use small onions if you can find them, or halve larger ones.
- Soak the raisins in 1/3 cup hot water (80 ml) while the onions blanch. Plumped raisins burst sweet and give up a syrupy soaking water, which is the sweet half of agrodolce with no sugar added.
- Cook the onions in a wide pan with a splash of water, covered, over medium heat until nearly tender, about 12 minutes. Then uncover and let them sit in the drying pan until they take on brown patches. That dry browning caramelizes their own sugars, deepening the sweetness from the inside.
- Add the raisins with their soaking water, the vinegar, and the bay. Simmer uncovered, spooning the liquid over the onions, until it reduces to a glossy glaze that coats them, about 8 minutes. As the water cooks off, the raisin sugars and the vinegar tighten into the syrup a cook would otherwise build with sugar.
- Grind over the pepper and let cool. Agrodolce is a make-ahead dish by nature: it tastes rounder after a night in the fridge, and it is served at room temperature, not hot.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 95 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g fiber, 10 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
