Cooking Index - Cooking Recipes & IdeasBest French Onion Soup Recipe - Cooking Index

Best French Onion Soup

The key to great onion soup is to cook the onions until they are completely caramelized: sweet, soft and dark golden brown. Traditional recipes call for beef or chicken stock, but you can make an excellent onion soup using well-seasoned vegetable broth (if using cubes, use 6 cubes with 6 cups water). Finish with a flourish of bubbly cheese, floating on a layer of French bread, and you'll have a soup that's rich and hearty enough to be a meal.

Courses: Soup, Vegetarian
Serves: 8 people

Recipe Ingredients

3 tablespoons 45mlButter
1 tablespoon 15mlVegetable oil
7 cups 437g / 15ozHalved and thinly-sliced onions - (to 8)
1 teaspoon 5mlSugar
1 teaspoon 5mlSalt
2 tablespoons 30mlAll-purpose flour
6 cups 1422mlLow-sodium vegetable broth
1/3 cup 78mlDry sherry
1 teaspoon 5mlChopped fresh thyme
  = (or 1/2 tepn dried thyme)
1/4 teaspoon 1.3mlFreshly-ground black pepper
1   French bread loaf - cut 1/2"-thk slices
10 oz 284gShredded Jarlsberg or Gruyere cheese - - (to 12)

Recipe Instructions

In large, heavy pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter with oil over medium heat. Stir in onions, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Reduce heat, cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add remaining butter to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and very soft, about 15 minutes.

Stir in flour and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in broth, sherry, thyme, salt to taste and pepper. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, adding more salt if needed.

Preheat broiler. Lightly toast bread slices. Ladle soup into 6 ovenproof bowls or crocks and arrange on baking sheet. Put enough bread on top of each serving -- cutting and fitting if necessary -- to cover soup. Sprinkle bread with shredded cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden. Serve hot.

This recipe yields 8 servings.

Per Serving: 338 Cal; 15g Prot; 18g Total Fat (10 Sat. Fat); 16g Carb.; 51mg Chol; 732mg Sod.; 2g Fiber.

Source:
Vegetarian Times, September 2001

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