cippolini-palooza

I decided not to hide these petite gems in a salad; I ate them straight off the plate and they were terrific. I followed Silvina’s advice and par-boiled them a few minutes before oven roasting. The skins slipped off much more easily compared to my initial attempt to peel a few raw ones. I set the oven to 400 degrees and tossed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In retrospect, I should have used a higher oven temperature; I could have cooked them a lot less and had a bit more caramelization. In the end, it took about 45 minutes in the oven.

Next time, I’m going to experiment with straight par-boiling and pickling in diluted balsamic vinegar. I had them this way in France and loved the slightly crunchy texture. Either way, cippolini onions are wonderful and I encourage you to seek them out at your local market (Sigona’s in Palo Alto currently has them).

Hot or cold, they’ll make a number of appearances on our summer lunch and dinner menus!