Allium cepa
ONION-CIPOLLINI-WHITE (Chip-oh-Lee-nee)is a gourmet Italian onion that is incredibly sweet, the flavor is mild & well developed. The name literally means “little onion” in Italian, and indeed they are! Cipollini’s are about the size of a golf ball with a slightly flattened appearance. They’re thin-skinned and have translucent white flesh with more residual sugar than your average yellow or white onion. Which makes them incredible for roasting or caramelizing? Roasted whole in the oven or cooked in a little butter on the stove top, Cipollini’s become soft and practically melt in your mouth. Those residual sugars caramelize and concentrate, leaving behind none of the astringent raw onion flavour. Seriously, you haven’t had caramelized onions until you’ve made them with Cipollini. Even the onion-haters out there might be swayed! The only downside to them is getting that thin skin off. Use a small knife to pull off strips from root to stem. You can also boil the onions for a few seconds to loosen the skin. It’s a pain, but definitely worth it for the sweet onions beneath.
Rows should be about 30cm apart, or if planted in dense beds, 12.5cm apart in triangles for the best use of space. Thin or transplant seedlings as needed to open spacing or fill empty spots.