Onions Agrodolce
By America's Test KitchenPublished on June 29, 2009
Yield
Serves 6 as a condiment
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Surprisingly, the frozen onions can be sautéed straight from the freezer without defrosting. The pan’s heat quickly evaporates any moisture that may leach out from them. If you choose to use fresh pearl onions, blanching them in boiling water for 30 seconds can help in removing the skins but, frankly, we don’t think fresh onions are worth the bother in this recipe. Because of the high acidity of this dish, it keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week.
Instructions
- Combine the butter, onions, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown and the sugar has caramelized, 8 to 9 minutes (you may need to scrape down the caramelized sugars from the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula to prevent burning).
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar, bay leaves, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/3 cup water. Stir to remove any browned bits stuck to the pan. Cover and place the pan over low heat. Simmer until the onions are soft and the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 15 to 17 minutes.
- Uncover, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until the onions are very glossy and the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Yield
Serves 6 as a condimentIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
For our onions agrodolce recipe, we opted to use frozen pearl onions (which didn’t have to be peeled) instead of harder-to-find cipollini. While some recipes suggest simply simmering the onions in a sweet and sour sauce, we preferred the onions sautéed in butter with some sugar and salt over relatively high heat so that the sugar began to caramelize and develop deep flavor. We then added the liquid ingredients of our onions agrodolce recipe (the vinegar and some water) and additional sugar and simmered the mixture until the onions were tender and coated with a light syrupy glaze.
Before You Begin
Surprisingly, the frozen onions can be sautéed straight from the freezer without defrosting. The pan’s heat quickly evaporates any moisture that may leach out from them. If you choose to use fresh pearl onions, blanching them in boiling water for 30 seconds can help in removing the skins but, frankly, we don’t think fresh onions are worth the bother in this recipe. Because of the high acidity of this dish, it keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week.
Instructions
- Combine the butter, onions, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown and the sugar has caramelized, 8 to 9 minutes (you may need to scrape down the caramelized sugars from the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula to prevent burning).
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar, bay leaves, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/3 cup water. Stir to remove any browned bits stuck to the pan. Cover and place the pan over low heat. Simmer until the onions are soft and the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 15 to 17 minutes.
- Uncover, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until the onions are very glossy and the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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