One of my favorite side dishes, sweet and sour pearl onions, is extremely easy to prepare, just like baked pearl onions. Delicious and flavorful, this is one of those dishes I make when I’m short on time and haven’t had the chance to clean and cook other vegetables. You can find pearl onions either in the refrigerated vegetable section at the supermarket, already cleaned in a tray, or in nets that need to be cleaned, which is a bit more laborious but not difficult at all. Sweet and sour pearl onions are great to accompany flavorful main courses as they are very tasty. They are usually prepared with wine vinegar. I prefer to prepare them with balsamic vinegar; they are definitely sweeter and have a less intrusive flavor. Let’s roll up our sleeves and prepare sweet and sour pearl onions together.
OTHER SIDE DISHES
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients for Preparing Sweet and Sour Pearl Onions
- 2.2 lbs Borettane pearl onions
- 1 clove garlic
- 1.8 oz butter
- tablespoons unrefined cane sugar
- cup white wine vinegar
- to taste salt and pepper
- 4 leaves bay leaves
Tools
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- Frying Pan
Preparation of Sweet and Sour Pearl Onions
Thoroughly clean the onions by removing the outer skin. Soak them in cold water for 30 minutes. Then check that the inner part is firm and intact.
Meanwhile, in a pot, melt the butter, adding garlic and sugar for flavor. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the drained pearl onions and caramelize them for a few minutes on both sides.
Add the wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar), the well-washed bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Cook covered until the pearl onions are soft, adding a bit of water from time to time if needed.
Storage
You can store the pearl onions for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
You can store the pearl onions for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
