It is rainy, cold, icy, and slippery outside in Montreal today. While I am lucky enough to be able to work from home, it is still one of those “bad weather days” that make you excited to get cozy and stay under blankets all night. In other words, I am thanking Joanna of last week for planning this French Onion Soup from Once Upon A Chef as tonight’s dinner recipe.
I remember being a kid and having my Mom serve us French Onion Soup in, what I called “special” bowls. It’s true, I wasn’t a huge fan of the soup itself at that age, but the fact that we only used those bowls for such dishes made the meal seem even more special.
You can use regular, oven-safe bowls for this. Please don’t feel the need to get the French onion soup bowls unless you’ve always wanted them or know that they will be used frequently. In my case, they were on sale for a great price and I know I will use them for many years to come.
With how simple this recipe is, the resulting taste is delicious.
I learned a lot from making this recipe in terms of the importance of the bread, so be sure to read the note below. If you wish to make this soup in advance, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days ahead of serving (without toast or cheese). Or, up to 3 months ahead if it’s frozen. The bread can be made “sans cheese” and kept sealed at room temperature for up to 3 days.
French Onion Soup
(4-6 Servings)
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsps Unsalted Butter
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable or Olive Oil
- 3lbs (about 5 medium) Vidalia or Sweet Onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- ¾ tsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Dry White Wine (I just use another cup of broth)
- 2 Tbsps All-Purpose Flour
- 6 cups Beef Broth
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ tsp Dried Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Baguette, Whole Wheat Bread or Croutons
- 8 oz (about 2 heaping cups) Gruyère cheese, grated (I used a slice of Provolone due to what I had on hand but this is quite thick. If you omit the bread, the cheese will not melt properly).
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- ¾ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
In a large soup pot/Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar.
Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, 45 to 55 minutes. In the beginning, you will only need to stir the onions occasionally. As they begin to brown midway through cooking, stir them frequently. Be sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. If the onions seem to be browning too quickly, slightly lower the heat or add a bit of water to deglaze the pan and continue cooking.
Add the wine/substitute and raise the heat to high.
Cook, continuing to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. This should take around 8-10 minutes resulting in jam-like onions.
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Then add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes.
Set an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and remove them when the bread looks dry, crisp, with golden edges. Set aside. We didn’t have a baguette on hand, so I simply made croutons out of regular sliced brown bread.
*Do not omit the bread. When I made this the first time, I thought, “No one likes soggy bread, just skip it.” The cheese did not melt like it was meant to and the recipe was a flop. The soup tasted great, but without the bread and cheese component, it wasn’t the same. When I reheated the leftover soup, I made it with the bread and it was perfect.*
When the soup is finished, remove the bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If the soup needs a deeper flavor, try adding a bit more Worcestershire sauce. If you need to counteract the acidity, add ¼ tsp sugar for sweetness.
For the following steps, please, be careful– everything will be extremely hot.
Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler. Set individual broiler-safe bowls/crock pots on a baking sheet and add the hot soup among them. The soup will need to be very hot already because counterintuitively, it won’t warm up too much in the oven.
If using, top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices/homemade whole wheat croutons. Sprinkle evenly with Gruyère and then the Parmigiano Reggiano if so desired. Slide the bowls into the oven and broil for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly around the edges. If you’re using regular soup bowls, top each baguette slice with some cheese, and return them to the broiler for about 1-2 minutes to melt.
Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.
Enjoy!