Sweet and Sour Baby Onions with Thyme, are a truly excellent side dish to serve both cold during the warmer periods of the year and hot when the cold is felt. Therefore, not only delicious but also very adaptable to the period in which we decide to prepare them and ideal with any dish. A recipe that is not only very easy and suitable for everyone, but also very quick especially if you buy the onions already cleaned. As you already know, every time I get involved in cooking I do not limit myself to small doses, especially in this case. So I cook them in abundance and preserve them, because they are fantastic on those days when there is no time to dedicate to cooking. For a correct procedure, done in maximum safety, take a look at my article: Homemade Preserves
I leave you the links to some really tasty side dishes:
- Cost: Economic
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 21 oz baby borettane onions
- 1/3 cup whole cane sugar
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
Tools
- 1 Saucepan
Preparation
Pour directly into the pot the water, whole cane sugar, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar (the quantities I proposed meet my tastes, so at the end of cooking, let’s taste them to adjust the flavors if necessary).
Stir until the sugar is almost completely dissolved. Rinse the baby borettane onions under running water (I find them already cleaned at the market) and place them directly in the saucepan. Adjust with salt, cover with a lid, and put on high flame, but only until the liquid starts to boil. From that moment on, lower to the minimum and let cook until the onions have softened. This, however, also depends on personal taste, as surely some will like them softer while others more crunchy.
Once cooked, let them cool if the season is warm and put them in the fridge for an hour. Otherwise, turn off and bring them immediately to the table, very hot.
Serve our Sweet and Sour Baby Onions with Thyme, placing them on a serving plate or bowl and drizzling all the syrup that formed during cooking over them. Finally, sprinkle them with a generous handful of fresh thyme.
Tips
We can keep the sweet and sour baby onions for several days in the refrigerator because sugar, vinegar, and salt are excellent natural preservatives.
However, be sure to put them inside airtight containers, made of glass or ceramic and never plastic, because the latter continuously releases toxic substances.
I would avoid freezing them even though it is possible, only because once thawed they will have a different texture, sometimes unpleasant.
