Name: Cipolline in agrodolce (Sweet-and-Sour Pearl Onions)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional); ¼ cup dark or golden raisins; ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted; Salt; 2½ pounds small white, yellow, or red onions, each 1 to 1½ inches in diameter, or the slightly larger cipollini onions (about 18 total); 2 tablespoons sugar; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Italian Slow and Savory

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2004

About

These onions from the Veneto are a wonderful Side dish for roast pork, pork chops, or duck. The classic Levantine addition of pine nuts and raisins plays up the sweetness side of the culinary equation. Slivered blanched almonds may also be used in place of the pine nuts.

Ingredients

2½ pounds small white, yellow, or red onions, each 1 to 1½ inches in diameter, or the slightly larger <

Method

Trim the root ends of the onions carefully, leaving the bottom of each bulb intact. Cut a shallow cross in each root end to prevent the onion from telescoping during cooking. Bring a large saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil. Add the onions and boil until barely cooked and still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain, let cool until they can be handled, and slip off the skins.

In a lar