Alright, it took me a little longer than I anticipated, but here it is – the recipe for sweet onions. Don’t be scared off by the lengthy cooking time – they are so worth it.

Sweet Onions
yields 2 cups

5 medium red onions
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.


Peel and chop the onions. The book says to cut them in half, then quarter the halfs and then cut all the pieces once more horizontally. It’s an exacting method, but it does result in uniform cuts.

Now, place the onions into a large bowl and pour the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey and pepper over. Mix together well.

Pour the mixture into an oven safe 10 inch skillet. You want them to be mounded in the pan. I wasn’t sure whether to pour the sauce in with the onions, so I cooked them for half the time with the onions strained and the other half of the time with the juice. Next time I will pour the mixture in its entirity for the entire time.

The onions will cook in the oven for a total of three hours (yes, 3 hours!). Remove them every half hour, pour back into the bowl and mix thoroughly.

When they are done, store them in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

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Possible uses:

  • on grilled chicken
  • over a baked potato
  • in a simple relish with chopped roasted red peppers
  • with the recipes in Simple Italian Sandwiches such as Prosciutto, Bell Paese and Sweet Onion Panini (page 35), Sweet Onion and Cacio Bruschetta (page 72), Cacciatorini, Sweet Onion and Tomato Tramezzini (page 96), etc
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