This soup made me cry. That’s right…it brought me to tears. I had to cut 10 small onions which equaled the recipe’s requisite 3 large onions. I now know why bags of small onions are less expensive. Buy large onions.
I’ve been doing lots of soups of late but hey, it’s soup season and even the Soup Nazi can’t keep me down. Today I tackled an old classic, French Onion Soup. This soup isn’t new to me and I’ve made it for years.
It’s an easy recipe but I think many are intimidated by the cleaning required of the soup pots with all that gooey cheese that sticks to the pots. Relax, it’s not that bad. I’ve found that if you use any earthenware or bowls that are coated by some sort of enamel then you’re washing duties are a breeze. Besides, why deny yourself one of the tastiest soups known to man?
French Onion Soup Gratinee (serves 6)
1/2 stick of butter
3 large onions, sliced (about 4 cups)
1 Tbsp. all purpose flower
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
7 cups of beef broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 loaf of French Stick
Gruyere cheese, grated
Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the butter, onions, bay leaves, thyme and some salt and cook down for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the flour until well blended. Add the wine, beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Cut 1-inch slices of French Stick from the loaf. Toast the slices in a toaster or in your oven (until just slightly browned).
- Ladle soup into your soup vessels (oven safe) and place the slice of toasted bread on top of each soup.
- Sprinkle lots of Gruyere on top of your bread and then top of with some Parmesan.
- Place soup vessels on a tray (for easier handling) and place under your broiler for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned.
I LOVE French onion soup!!! And you know if you have one – a food processor is excellent for this sort of job! Did you use homemade beef stock? I will be posting my perfect chicken stock in a slow cooker soon.. it really is easy ;)
Anything French and I’m there! Great recpe it looks very delicious and rich yummy. :)
this is one of my faves…although ive never made it…
i want to climb into my computer screen and dive into this soup!
Peter, my husband won’t even go near the kitchen when I’m chopping onions – his eyes get all teary and red! :)
Your soup looks like it was all worth the sacrifice, though. :)
Katerina, I had frozen beef stock from the bones of prime rib, need I say more? lol
My mom used to love making this for us, so for me, it is comfort food :)
French onion soup is one of my favorite soups! It usually takes me 2-3 hours to slowly brown/caramelize the onions so I do not end up making it too often.
Oh, I haven’t made french onion soup in a long time. Yours looks amazing!
Very well done, Peter. Lately, we put a bit of Fontina cheese under the bread and the other cheese on top. Makes for a nice satisfying meal. Félicitations
French onion soup is a perfect winter meal but, like Kevin, it always takes ages, so I don’t make it as often as I’d like to eat it. Your crouton with cheese is picture-perfect!
Yum! I’ve ALWAYS wanted to make French Onion Soup but just never did. I think it’s about time I give it a shot. Your recipe looks great!