Classic Onion Soup With Gruyere Recipes

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, 45 to 55 minutes. In the beginning, you will only need to stir the onions only occasionally. As they start to brown midway through cooking, you will need to stir them frequently, scraping the fond (the brown particles) from the bottom of the pan. If the onions are browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly or add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan and continue cooking.
• Add the wine and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape any fond from the bottom of the pan, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and the onions are jammy, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.
• Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
• When the soup is finished, remove the bay leaves and add the sherry; taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If the soup needs a deeper flavor, try a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. If it's not quite sweet enough, add ¼ teaspoon sugar.
• Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and divide the hot soup among the crocks (be sure the soup is very hot as it won't warm up much in the oven). Top each crock with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère and then Parmigianno Reggiano. Slide the crocks into the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let the crocks cool for a few minutes before serving. (Alternatively, if using regular soup bowls: Top each toast slice with some cheese and return to broiler to melt, about 2 minutes more. Divide the soup among bowls and top each serving with two cheese toasts.)
• Make-Ahead Instructions: The soup can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead (without toasts or cheese), or up to 3 months ahead and frozen. Toasts can be made (without the cheese) and kept sealed at room temperature for up to 3 days.

ONION AND GRUYERE SOUP

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook butter until foamy. Stir in onions and cook a couple of minutes, then reduce heat, stir in salt, cover and cook very slowly until very tender, 60 minutes.
• Transfer onions and their caramel to a larger pot and place it over medium heat. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Stir in chicken broth, pepper and nutmeg and simmer gently, uncovered, 15 minutes.
• Stir in shredded cheese until melted (cheese will remain a little stringy). Serve.

CLASSIC ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat, add onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Add vegetable stock, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in dry sherry or cognac.
• Rub garlic clove on each piece sliced bread and toast on a baking sheet until both sides are golden.
• Place bread in a casserole or in 6 individual ovenproof, bowls and ladle onion soup over top. Top with a mixture of Gruyere and Parmesan and place casserole or individual bowls under the broiler and to melt cheese and slightly brown top.

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until softened, 10-13 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Add minced garlic; cook 2 minutes longer., Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add broth, pepper and salt; return to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. , Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet; brush both sides with remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Bake until toasted, 3-5 minutes on each side. Rub toasts with halved garlic. , To serve, place twelve 8-oz. broiler-safe bowls or ramekins on baking sheets; place 2 toasts in each. Ladle with soup; top with cheese. Broil 4 in. from heat until cheese is melted.

BAKED FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH GRUYèRE PASTRY

Steps:

• Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. When the butter has melted, stir in the onions, cover, and cook slowly until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the salt, garlic and sugar, letting the onions catch on the bottom of the pan, stirring frequently until they are golden in colour. Sprinkle the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove from heat, allow to cool a moment, then whisk in 1 pint of the beef stock, the thyme and the bay leaf.
• When well blended, bring to the simmer, adding the rest of the stock, Cognac, Madeira and white wine and simmer very slowly for 1/2 an hour, adding a little water if the liquid reduces too much. Check for seasoning.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F Roll out the puff pastry and sprinkle with half the Gruyere cheese, fold into 3 and roll out again until it is half cm thick, then cut out 4-6 lids.
• Divide the soup among 4-6 ovenproof soup bowls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of soup and cover with the pastry lids with a little egg wash seal and bake the soup in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheesy puff pastry is golden in colour and well risen.
• Serve immediately by breaking through the pastry which then doubles up as your crouton.

ONE-POT FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH GARLIC-GRUYèRE CROUTONS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven over high heat. Add the oxtail (or beef shoulder) in a single layer (work in batches, if necessary to avoid crowding the pan), and sear until the undersides are brown (do not turn). Season generously with salt and transfer to a plate.
• Coarsely chop two of the onions; add to the pot, along with the celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Return the beef to the pot. Pour in 8 cups water. Simmer mixture gently until the meat is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Transfer beef to a bowl to cool for another use. Strain liquid into a bowl over a fine-mesh sieve; press gently on the solids with the back of a spatula to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the solids; you should have about 10 cups broth (add water if necessary to equal 10 cups).
• Halve the remaining 6 onions through the root end, then peel and thinly slice them lengthwise. Melt the butter in the bottom of the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, tossing occasionally, until deep golden-brown and caramelized, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Pour in the port and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 3 minutes. Pour in the broth and simmer mixture over low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and lemon juice, if desired. (For a smaller group, you could refrigerate some of the soup and reheat it later.)
• While the broth simmers, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast until golden, about 12 minutes. Rub the garlic halves over the surface of the bread.
• Heat the broiler and arrange a rack 4 to 6 inches from the flame. Using a cheese slicer, thinly slice 3 ounces of Gruyère. Coarsely grate the remaining cheese. Float the broiled bread over the surface of the hot soup. Layer the cheese slices over the bread; scatter the grated cheese over it. Transfer the Dutch oven to the oven and broil until cheese is golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes (watch to see that it does not burn).
• To serve, use kitchen shears or scissors to cut the bread and cheese into portions. Ladle soup, bread and cheese into individual bowls.