With slow, gentle cooking, plain onions become rich, golden and caramelized. The additions of wine and sherry make this comforting soup – which is amped up even further when topped with slices of toasted baguette and lots of melted cheese – especially nice for warming you up on chilly winter days.
French Onion Soup
ELLE Gourmet's French onion soup recipe, made with wine and sherry and topped with cheesy baguette.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 4 large Vidalia onions cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
- 2 tbsp dry sherry
- 6 cups good-quality beef stock
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 6 slices baguette
- 1¼ cups shredded Emmenthal cheese
- 1¼ cups shredded Gruyère cheese
Instructions
- In large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and just beginning to colour, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add onions and cook, stirring often, until just wilted; reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking onions, stirring occasionally and scraping up golden bits from bottom of pot, until they are richly caramelized and golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Add sherry and cook until evaporated and syrupy, 2 minutes. Add stock, wine, thyme, salt and pepper; cook for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to broil.
- Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet. Broil on centre rack until evenly toasted on both sides, about 1 minute per side.
- In bowl, combine Emmenthal and Gruyère cheeses. Place 6 oven-safe bowls on baking sheet; divide onion soup among bowls. Sprinkle some of the cheese mixture into each bowl. Layer with a slice of baguette and top generously with remaining cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.
