Nicely spiced – in fact, I almost thought I’d made this batch too spicy, but after adding toasted garlic bread, slicing really, really nice Gruyère over the top, and running it all under the broiler it was perfect! – and just the thing for a cold winter’s night, this onion soup can be ready in about three hours from start to finish (making your stock‘ll take 30 minutes, then caramelizing the onions an hour, plus another hour to finish the soup).
Or, you can take your time and make it, as did I, over the course of a couple of days.
It is well worth the wait.
INGREDIENTS
Soup:
•4 tbsp unsalted butter
•8 cups yellow and/or sweet onions, sliced
•1 tbsp sugar
•1 tbsp flour
•1/2 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
•2 tbsp cognac
•6 cups stock
•3/4 tsp dried thyme or 3/4 tsp dried
•1 tsp Tellicherry pepper
•1/2 tsp seasoned salt
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce
•Toasted garlic bread*
•Gruyère cheese, sliced
*For my garlic toasts, I sliced some old French bread and spread the slices with unsalted butter, sea salt, and roasted garlic, then popped ’em into a hot oven for ten minutes or so – just until they very nicely browned and crispity.
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat, then add the sliced onion, sprinkle with the sugar and cook, stirring just so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, until they are a soft, golden brown – about an hour.
I added the Aleppo pepper after 30 minutes and kept on stirring and cooking.
Sprinkle the onions with the flour, stir to coat, then add the sherry, stock, cognac, and thyme.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
Give the soup a taste, then add salt and pepper – here’s where I also added Worcestershire and the Sherry Peppers – and simmer for another 30 minutes.
At this point, you can serve the soup as it is, allow it to cool and stash it in the fridge overnight, then skim off any extra fat from the top before reheating and serving, or, my choice: cool, skim, reheat, and then…
preheat your broiler, ladle the hot soup into oven-safe crocks with a slice or two of the garlic toast, then top with the cheese and broil for three or four minutes – just until the cheese is melted and bubbly and oh! so good.
Enjoy your soup.