This French Onion Soup is on a whole other level compared to the canned French Onion Soup I ate as a kid! The first time I ever ate it made " the right way" , I was in my early 20's and was out with friends when I ordered it at a restaurant. That forever changed the way I felt about this dish. It was fantastic !!
It's really not difficult to make, just takes a bit of time because you're cooking down all those onions to sweeten them up as they carmelize to a yummy goodness that really adds to the flavor in this soup!
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 c Unsalted Butter
6 Yellow Onions, sliced thin into half circles
3 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
2 heaping Tbs flour
1/4 c Brandy
1 c Dry Red Wine
5-6 sprigs of Thyme , tied together with butcher's twine
1 Large Bay leaf
1 tsp Kosher Salt , plus more to taste if necessary
1/4 tsp Black Pepper , plus more to taste if necessary
2 quarts Beef Broth ( I usually use reduced sodium broth)
2 cups shredded Fontina Cheese
1/2 cup fresh Parm, shredded
1 baguette sliced on the diagonal
DIRECTIONS:
In a large dutch oven or large soup pot, melt the butter and add in the sliced onions . Cook on medium heat and cover with the lid, stirring occasionally for 45 - 50 minutes until the onions are starting to carmelize and become golden around the edges. You can cook them a little longer if you want them a little darker as well. The darker they are, the sweeter they'll be !
After the onions have cooked down, turn down the heat to medium low and add the flour to them and mix in well, incorporating all of the flour with the onions . Continue to cook for about 5 more minutes stirring often so that the onions don't stick to the bottom of the pot and scald.
Next, add in the the salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf stir together and pour in the brandy and wine. Let all onions simmer in the wine for about 6 -7 minutes and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot while you stir.
Now, pour in the beef broth , stir and continue to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid slightly ajar to allow the soup to cook down a little and slightly condense.
Once the soup is done remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf and discard. Put your sliced bread onto a baking sheet and lightly spread a little butter onto each piece and then sprinkle with just a little garlic salt. ( if you want to skip this step, you can. I like the little bit of extra flavor in the bread) Next, put the baking sheet under the broiler on low and allow the bread to toast just until slightly golden. Remove the baking sheet, but leave the broiler on.
Fill oven proof bowls with the soup , ( if you don't have any oven proof bowls that can sit under the broiler for a couple of minutes then skip this step! No sense in having them crack in the oven! You can just toast your bread more in the previous step and then add to the bowl of soup and top with cheeses. The soup will melt the cheese.) put 2 pieces of the toasted bread into each bowl and then top with the fontina cheese and a little parm, covering most of the piece of bread. Put your bowls onto a large baking sheet and then put them under the broiler and let the cheese melt until it gets bubbly and then remove.
* BE VERY CAREFUL REMOVING THE TRAY OF BOWLS FROM THE OVEN ! Also, make sure you use oven mitts to pick the bowls up off of the tray and place them onto a salad plate to serve at the table or the bowl can damage your table surface not to mention burn your hands.
Enjoy !
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