It will take a half hour or more to caramelize the onions but this step cannot be skipped. You need only stir the onions every 3-4 minutes during the first 20 minutes. The onions will brown and the bottom and sides of the pan will become almost black. Stirring often will prevent the onions from burning, but will still result in a golden brown color.

French Onion Soup

5 from 1 vote
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Course: Soup
Cuisine: French
Keyword: 30 Minute Meal, 5 Ingredients or Less, Comfort food, Delicious, Fall-Winter, For Foodies, Hearty, Vegetarian, Week Night Dinner
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Degree of Difficulty : Easy
Servings: 4 people
Tip : Do not use a non-stick pan for this recipe. It is best to use a heavy bottom pan or an enameled cast iron pan for best results. You need the pan to allow the forming of a brown crust which does not form in non-stick pans,

Ingredients 

  • 4 tbsp olive oil or half oil and half unsalted butter
  • 3 large Spanish or Vidalia Onions halved and then sliced
  • 1 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1 can (11 oz) Campbell's beef consommé
  • 4 cans beef stock use consommé can to measure
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1/2 tbsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions

  • Gather all ingredients before you start the recipe
  • Peel onions, cut in half and then slice a medium thickness
  • Heat butter or half butter and half oil in medium large sauce pan over high heat, add the sliced onions and reduce heat to medium high and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • While the onions are cooking, cut the rind off the Gruyer cheese
  • Grate about of half of a half pound (.268 kg) slice of cheese
  • Slice 6 rounds from a day old stick of French Bread
  • Check onions after about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, you should see that the onions are slightly reduced in volume
  • After 20 minutes, add sugar, cracked peppercorns and thyme, and continue cooking over medium high heat; make sure that you stir and scrape the onions from the bottom of the pan once every couple of minutes.
  • When the sides and the bottom of the pan are turning brown, the onions should also be getting brown, be careful not to burn as this stage comes together quite quickly
  • Once the onions have reached a golden brown color, sprinkle on the flour and stir to blend.
  • Add bay leaf, the can of consommé and measure 4 more cans full of beef broth and bring the soup to a boil.
  • Turn down to a medium low, cover with a lid propped open with a wooden spoon and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the surface of the soup clarifies

Pre heat broiler

  • Remove soup from heat and ladle into deep oven proof soup bowls and top each with 3-4 slices of bread topped with grated Gruyer
  • Place bowls on a cookie sheet and slide under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the bread begin to brown

Author Notes

Substitute beef stock and consommé with vegetable stock for a hearty vegetarian soup!

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