The Power of Onions in Italian Food

So good, they’ll make you cry!

When it comes to an Italian kitchen, onions are used in so many dishes, we don’t know where to start. Whether they are standing out on a salad, adding flavor and texture to a pizza, or combined with other ingredients, many of our dishes would lose their touch without the presence of onions.

The Onion Origin

Since the beginning of civilization, onions have been an important part of our diet. However, it was once believed to be a lowly vegetable because of its pungent taste. But, as we all know, over the centuries the onion has prevailed! It is now one of the most commonly consumed vegetables, and has emerged as a favorite ingredient in many recipes. Onions have the amazing ability to add flavor to an otherwise bland dish, can turn an average meal into an elegant dinner, and fill the kitchen with delicious aromas.

What Are Onions?

Practically everyone is familiar with onions, but there are probably a number of things you don’t know about this amazing vegetable.

Onions actually belong to the lily plant family. They are grown for the edible bulb, which is what you find in the produce section. Onions are typically put into two categories, “green” or “dry”.

Green onions are smaller onions, harvested before the bulb has matured. Because of early harvesting, the tops are still green.

Dry onions are also known as “mature onions”. These are harvested when the shoot has died and layers of papery thin skin cover a firm juicy flesh. There are two types of dry onions: Fresh (Spring/Summer), also called “sweet onions”, and Storage (Fall/Winter) onions.

Sweet onions have higher water content and may be served either raw or cooked. Storage onions contain less moisture and have a higher sulfur content, so they can be kept in storage for longer periods of time. The storage onion is used in cooking, providing a sharper and more flavorful taste than sweet onions.

A traditional Italian onion is the Cippoline onion. It has a flat oval shape, a brown papery skin, and ranges from 1-3 inches in size. Cippoline onions are a dry onion, with a delicately sweet flavor. They’re wonderful for roasting whole – caramelized and delicious.

So how does Rosedale Brick Oven use onions in our Italian ?

Our famous marinara sauce also gets a nice assist from the onion which in turn, compliments most of our red sauce dishes.

Joined by garlic and other herbs, and cooked with our marinated chicken wings in our wood fired oven, onions help to give our “Wings Italiano” their name.

Flavorful onions are also used in some of our delicious seafood dishes, such as mussels marinara in white wine sauce.