Pickled borettana onions, the grandma’s recipe for one of the most classic Italian side dishes. Preserving seasonal vegetables is a great way to enjoy them later when they are no longer in season. Just like the Eggplants preserved in oil, pickled borettana onions are really very easy to make — you only need a few ingredients and a few tips to obtain a delightful result. The use of cinnamon, bay leaves, pepper and cloves gives the pickled onions a wonderfully tempting scent and flavor that will be hard to resist.
Let’s go to the kitchen and discover how to make pickled onions. Please use clean jars and new lids, and be careful with strict hygiene to ensure your preserves last long and do not get contaminated.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 2 jars (about 17.6 oz / 500 g each)
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients to make pickled borettana onions
- 1 kg onions (Borettana)
- 500 ml aceto di vino bianco
- 250 ml acqua
- 6 foglie alloro
- 2 cannella in stecca
- 10 chiodi di garofano
- 10 g pepe nero
- q.b. sale
- 500 ml aceto di vino bianco
- 100 ml acqua
- 30 g sale
- 2 cucchiaini zucchero
Tools
- Pots
- Jars
- Colander
- Slotted spoon
- Bowls
Preparation
Wash two 500 g jars (about 17.6 oz each) with soap and water and rinse them thoroughly. Place them in a large pot together with their lids, cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for ten minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the jars with tongs and place them upside down on a clean towel. Trim the outermost layer of the onions, place them in a colander and rinse them.
Collect the onions in a bowl full of cold water. Meanwhile, bring to a boil a pot with 2 cups (500 ml) of white wine vinegar, 1 cup (250 ml) of water, the salt (about 1 teaspoon) and all the aromatics. Immerse the onions and blanch them for 7–8 minutes, or 10 minutes if they are slightly larger.
Lift the blanched onions with a slotted spoon, place them on a towel and let them cool and dry for about twenty minutes. Bring to a boil the second portion of vinegar with the water, the sugar and the salt, creating a brine of one part water to five parts vinegar; add two small pieces of cinnamon and the bay leaves (you can reuse those already used). Fill the sterilized jars with the onions and cover them with the hot brine. Tap the jars lightly to release any air bubbles, put on the lids and turn the jars upside down to create a vacuum seal.
Let cool and check that a vacuum has formed (by pressing the center of the lid you should not feel movement of the metal). The pickled onions are now ready and can be stored for up to one year.
Storage and tips
Opened jars can be kept in the refrigerator for up to one month.
NOTE: Vinegar and salt create an environment hostile to the development of botulism and therefore to the production of botulinum toxin. Preserves are safe when they have a pH value below 4.5, achieved by blanching the vegetables for a few minutes in a solution composed of at least 50% water and 50% vinegar and with vinegar having at least 5.5% acidity. All non-acid preserves in oil and water are at risk of botulism.
NOTE: Vinegar and salt create an environment hostile to the development of botulism and therefore to the production of botulinum toxin. Preserves are safe when they have a pH value below 4.5, achieved by blanching the vegetables for a few minutes in a solution composed of at least 50% water and 50% vinegar and with vinegar having at least 5.5% acidity. All non-acid preserves in oil and water are at risk of botulism.
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