I often wonder if whole roasted cippolini onions are worth the effort whenever I see them. Granted they are quite delicious caramelized, but when prepping I end up destroying the first thick layer of some. This time I made an effort to figure out a way to consistently remove just the paper.
After playing around with a couple ideas, I discovered that aggressively rolling the onions on their sides released the paper skin with ease. It crushes the outer cell structure, but what do you care? You were going to roast them anyway.
After roasting the onions with schmaltz, I noted that they looked very much like soup dumplings. In fact, there were more similarities than differences. The only disappointment was that there wasn't enough of a textural difference between the outer "wrap" and inner "filling".
I couldn't help but hold over a few to see if a second roasting the next day would give me the results I was looking for. The inside was hot, creamy and sweet with a touch of caramelization. The outside was nicely browned and had an interesting chewy texture. The "wrapper" needs a little work. Maybe an oven frying technique at the end will crisp it up nicely? Any suggestions?
Sometimes simple investigations lead to unintended discoveries worth pursuing.
As always, please share your ideas to keep the ideas bouncing...
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