French Onion Soup

From the kitchen of Carly

The bistro classic: deeply caramelized onions, beef stock, white wine, and a raft of toasted bread under blistered Gruyere. The whole thing rises and falls on how patient you are with the onions, so settle in. Yes, 30 minutes on the onions. Set a timer, get a podcast. Stir every few minutes. Don't crank the heat to speed it up.

French Onion Soup
Prep
10 min
Cook
1 hr 10 min
Total
1 hr 20 min
Servings
4
Difficulty
easy

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 50 gunsalted butter
  • 1 tbspolive oil
  • 1 kg (about 5 large)yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tspgranulated sugar
  • 4garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 tbspall-purpose flour
  • 250 mldry white wine
  • 1 Lbeef stock, hot
  • 4thick slices of country bread, toasted
  • 140 gGruyere, grated

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter and oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat.

  2. Add the sliced onions. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, just to soften.

  3. Uncover. Sprinkle in the sugar. Cook 25 to 30 minutes more, stirring every few minutes, until the onions are deeply golden and jammy. They should reduce to about a quarter of their original volume. Don't rush this; pale onions equal pale soup.

  4. Add the sliced garlic in the last 2 minutes of caramelizing.

  5. Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir well. Cook 1 minute more.

  6. Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in the white wine, stirring constantly. Let it bubble hard for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol.

  7. Pour in the hot beef stock. Stir, then cover and simmer 20 minutes.

  8. Taste. Season with salt and pepper. The deep onion flavor should carry the soup; salt to enhance, not dominate.

  9. Heat the broiler.

  10. Ladle the soup into 4 oven-safe bowls. Float a slice of toasted bread on each. Pile the grated Gruyere over the top, covering the bread completely.

  11. Place the bowls on a baking sheet. Slide under the broiler 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and blistered at the edges.

  12. Serve immediately, warning everyone the bowls are very hot.

Substitutions
  • Gruyere to Comte, Emmental, or sharp Swiss. Comte is the upscale move; Emmental is what most groceries stock. Skip pre-shredded; it doesn't melt cleanly.
  • beef stock to homemade or low-sodium chicken stock + 1 tbsp soy sauce. Soy sauce adds the umami depth beef stock provides. Better than thin store-bought beef broth.
  • dry white wine to dry sherry or extra stock + 1 tsp red wine vinegar. Sherry is classic in some French versions. The vinegar mimics the acid the wine would have provided.

Pairs well with: A simple green salad with mustard vinaigrette, A glass of Burgundy or any pinot noir, Buttered baguette on the side for sopping

Adapted from TheMealDB.