This is an absolute favourite in my house! Whilst we are biased towards Italian cuisine, our favourite soups are certainly from France and Ireland. You will be surprised by how easy this recipe is to make, but it does require quite a lot of cooking time! It’s an ideal meal for a cold and rainy day, in which you are relaxing at home while this soup is bubbling away for a few hours.
You will be impressed by the result! Amazing recipes do not need to be complicated and this one has certainly nothing to envy from what you would eat in a great restaurant in Paris. I guarantee!
French Onion Soup (serves 4)
Ingredients:
- 2 kilos of onions
- 20 grammes of butter
- 50 grammes of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 vegetable stock cubes (I use Kallo organic vegetables)
- 2 slices of bread, cut in half
- 120 grammes of cheese (Comte or Gruyere)
- Salt and pepper
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours and 30 minutes (with use of pressure cooker, otherwise 4 hours and 30 minutes)
- Peel and chop the onions. I like mine to be a bit chunky in the soup, so I normally chop an onion in 6 to 8 pieces.
- Melt the butter in the pot (or pressure cooker), then add the onion and the olive oil and heat until the butter is well melted but not brown. Cook the onion for 5 minutes without the lid, and then cover and cook at low heat for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. You want your onions to be very soft and yellow.
- Add your three vegetable stock cubes and 2 litres of water. If you are using a pressure cooker, cook for an hour with the pot closed and one then 1 one with the pot without the lid on. If you are using a normal large pot, cook for 4 hours (the first three hours with the lid on) at low heat, stirring only occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oven at 190 C
- Blend the soup. I personally blend only 2/3 of it, as I like the taste of some chunky pieces on onion, but you should follow your personal taste for the consistency you want to achieve.
- Place the soup in a pot that can go in the oven (it could be a large cast iron or terracotta casserole). Toast the bread slices and then gently place them on the surface of the soup and cover them generously with the cheese and black pepper.
- Place the soup in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted.
This soup is fantastic and gets even better the day after. Enjoy and bon appetit!