With the recipe for onion soup, I delve a little into French cuisine, not the Michelin-starred kind, of course, but the humbler cooking of the past, famous worldwide nonetheless. Imagine that in France, it has been around since the 18th century, while traces of it can be found in ancient Rome, precisely because it was a simple dish the common people could prepare with few ingredients.
The Onion Soup is really easy to prepare, even though it requires quite some cooking time between the stove and the oven. Don’t be intimidated because the result will meet your expectations.
Just a few really “humble” ingredients that are easy to find: white onions or at most yellow ones, a knob of butter, broth that can be meat or vegetable, two tablespoons of flour, and some white wine.
Here’s the shopping list to make your onion soup. Oh, I almost forgot: some stale bread that we will reuse instead of throwing away and some cheese. The choice is, of course, yours; you can use Gruyere, Fontina, or, as I did, a nice sprinkle of Grana Padano along with some Gruyere. If you have thyme, I recommend it; its smell pairs perfectly with this dish.
How to serve it? It could be a great first course to warm up cold winter days or a tasty side dish for roast or grilled meat.
The original recipe for soupe à l’oignon calls for meat broth, and I used meat broth myself. Of course, you can make it yourself if you want, or you can buy it already made. The important thing is to complete each cooking step for the specified time and not to overdo it with the aromas; it should remain a delicate and well-balanced dish from this point of view.
Mom’s Advice: “Rinse the onions well under running water so you won’t cry like a baby; you never cried as a child, so why start now!” That was my mother; she made you understand things by making them sound like mild scoldings, her motto was “you have to learn by watching in the kitchen, I can’t always explain everything to you!”
If you like soups, try this leek and potato soup with Greek yogurt, delicious, creamy, and fragrant! If onions drive you crazy, leeks won’t be any less. Do you want to try another easy and economical recipe? Perfect for autumn and winter? Try the vegetable minestrone with pumpkin, rich in legumes and vegetables.
Let’s move on to the Onion Soup recipe!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovet
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 241.93 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 28.86 (g) of which sugars 9.21 (g)
- Proteins 7.13 (g)
- Fat 10.86 (g) of which saturated 4.09 (g)of which unsaturated 2.16 (g)
- Fibers 2.75 (g)
- Sodium 709.90 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Onion Soup:
- 1.1 lbs white onions
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Half cup white wine
- 2 cups beef broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 butter (knob)
- 4 slices bread
- 1.75 oz cheese (Fontina or Gruyere)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
Tools for the Onion Soup
- 1 Pot
- 4 Bowls
- Oven
- Stove
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Wooden spoon
Preparation of Onion Soup:
Let’s start preparing the Onion Soup by cutting the onions. Using a knife and a cutting board, cut the required 1.1 lbs of onions into medium-small pieces.
Pour some extra virgin olive oil into a pot along with the knob of butter. Add the onions and let cook on low heat with the lid on for about 25 minutes.
The onions should be well-stewed and almost transparent.
Now add two tablespoons of flour, one teaspoon of sugar, half a cup of still white wine, and gently mix everything. You’ll see the flour thicken with the onions.
This is the moment to add 2 cups of beef broth, or vegetable broth. Put the lid back on the pot and, still on low heat, let it cook for about 50 minutes. Stir gently from time to time.
After this time, preheat the oven to 356°F or, if you have it, turn on the grill mode. Take two oven-safe bowls ideal for soups, and pour a little extra virgin olive oil inside to coat the bottom. Using a spoon, add the onions and place two slightly thick slices of bread in the center.
Sprinkle with fresh thyme, Gruyere, and if you like, add some grated cheese as I did.
Bake the bowls with the onion soup for about 10 minutes; the bread should be golden (as you see in the photo).
Before serving, you can sprinkle with more cheese and fresh thyme.
Enjoy your meal!!!
Storage:
The onion soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days with the bowls, which we used for the oven reheating, covered with aluminum foil.
Variations:
The variations, as I mentioned earlier, can be in the choice of onions, whether white or yellow, the broth that can be meat or vegetable, and finally in the choice of cheese for garnish.
Other Recipes:
If you like casseroles, you can try this one, Baked Swiss Chard Casserole with Tomato and Cheese Grandma Sandra’s recipe never disappoints.
