Onions are imbued with a natural sweetness that is sometimes hard to discern behind its raw bite.  Cooking onions helps to bring out the vegetable's natural sugar, and caramelizing an onion is the best way to reach maximum sweetness like in today's Kielbasa with Sweet Onions and Fava Beans video.

Although this video shows the quick caramelization process, those with more time should cook the onions over low heat for about 45 minutes to "sweat out" moisture and bring the sugars in the onion to the surface. Once the onions have reached a deep golden brown they can then be added to pizzas, top steaks or sandwiches, or added to salads.

How to caramelized an onion:
4 or 5 white onions
2-3 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil or butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar, optional
3 tablespoons of water

 Remove the stems and roots of onions, peel, and cut the onions lengthwise. Slice thinly.
Heat the oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Next, add onions and salt, as well as the sugar if you if desired (the sugar helps in the caramelization process and sweetens the onions).

Lower heat to medium-low and stir the onions occasionally, about every 7 minutes. Sautee about 45 minutes. As the onions cook down and become dark (near the end of the cooking process), stir more frequently, about once a minute.  If the onions begin to burn, stir more often. Add a splash of water to scrape up any onion bits stuck to the pan and to deglaze the caramelized onions. Enjoy!

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