Colouring eggs - Easter is a festival celebrated in the company of friends and family, a time of sharing and joy. Today we want to talk about the tradition of decorating hard-boiled eggs to add a touch of originality to your table. Let’s find out how to do it naturally, using an ingredient that perhaps you would not expect: onion skins. Let’s go through the process step by step:
- Collect the skins: to begin with, you will need a good quantity of red onion skins. The more skins you have, the more intense the colour will be. To colour 4-5 eggs, we recommend using the skins of about 3-4 red onions. These are of course approximate amounts, which depend on the size of the onion and on the intensity of the colour of the skins themselves. In some families, people start collecting the skins months beforehand.
- Prepare the eggs: make sure the eggs are thoroughly clean and free of any residue. This step is essential for an even colouring.
- Boil the skins: put the onion skins in a pan and add enough water to cover them well. Bring the water to the boil with the skins and let it boil for about 15-20 minutes. The water will turn a deep red. You have made your natural dye.
- Add the eggs: with the water still on the heat, gently place the eggs in the pan. If you wish, you can wrap each egg in an onion skin before putting it in the water, securing it with a piece of string. This step is not compulsory, but it can help to create more intense colour effects and interesting patterns on the eggs. Many people simply put the eggs into the pan together with the onion skins.
- Cooking time: let the eggs take on colour in the water with the skins for about 20 minutes. For a more intense colour, you can leave them longer, up to an hour. Remember that the time affects the intensity of the colour but also how the eggs are cooked.
- Cooling: once the desired colour has been reached, remove the eggs from the water and let them cool. If you want a glossy effect, you can gently rub them with a cloth soaked in vegetable oil, for example olive oil.
- Display and decoration: now that your eggs are beautifully coloured, it is time to show them off. You can arrange them in an Easter basket, creating your own composition. Use them for an egg hunt with the children or simply as a decoration for the Easter table.
