French Onion Soup (with an Australian twist)
I have a confession to make…
I’ve actually been away on holiday for the past few weeks
Most of that time was spent travelling around France, sampling their delicious cuisine.
This included trying their well known “soupe à l’oignon”, or onion soup
This incredibly tasty soup is thick with onions and always served with a gruyere crouton (usually toasted white baguette with gruyere cheese melted on top).
It was a great choice on nights when I just wanted something light but warming and satisfying for dinner.
Here is my version…
French onion soup has only a few ingredients
Start by caramelising onions until golden brown
Onions are soft and starting to brown, but have a long way to go….
Add wine, flour and stock
Serve topped with parsley, and…
My version is served with rye sourdough toast, topped with melted gruyere (or other Swiss style cheese)
Make sure you put the toast in the soup for a few minutes so it soaks up some soup and becomes soft (and trust me, very delicious)…
(To quote a good friend of mine…) nom nom nom!
- 5 medium brown onions, approx 900g, sliced (I used a mandolin, see photo below)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 4 cups (1 litre) stock, I used Massel beef stock, see photo (which is vegetarian!)
- fresh parsley, finely chopped, to serve
- freshly ground black pepper
- sourdough rye bread
- gruyere (or swiss style) cheese
- Heat a large heavy-based pot (with a lid) over medium heat
- When hot add onions, oil and butter and stir for a few minutes to coat
- Place lid on pot and cook over medium heat for up to 30 minutes until onions turn golden brown, but remove lid and stir every few minutes to prevent onions from catching on the bottom and starting to burn
- As the onions start to turn dark brown, use the wine, a little at a time to pick up the tasty brown bits that may be stuck on the bottom of the pan (this is called de-glazing!)
- When the onions are a deep golden brown, add the flour and cook for a few minutes, then add the stock slowly and gradually to prevent lumps from forming
- Bring to the boil, then turn heat off
- Toast bread, then top with cheese and grill until melted
- Serve soup topped with bread, pepper as desired and sprinkled with parsley
Per Serve (with 25g bread + 20g cheese): 1706 kJ or 406 calories; P 14g Fat 18g SFat 8g CHO 35g Fibre 7g
The chore of chopping onions can be made so much easier by using a mandolin
Stay tuned for some more favorites from my French trip…
This sounds really nice. Always looking for new recipes to try. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Thanks Simon – let me know if you give it a go 🙂