At my house, soup isn’t a regular part of our meal rotation, but we do get a hankering for it here and there. One chilly day, I had a major craving for French Onion Soup which I hadn’t had in years. The timing was perfect because I actually had bread on hand – sourdough, my favorite! A quick internet search drew me to this recipe from the NY Times.
I had only made French Onion Soup once before and it was several years ago. Looking back, I’m certain I didn’t caramelize the onions properly. That certainly wasn’t the case this time! I followed the instructions for caramelizing to the T and I couldn’t stop myself from nibbling on a few of the caramelized slices before adding the remaining ingredients.
I did make some modifications:
- Didn’t add any sherry (this isn’t something I keep on hand)
- Added a few shakes of Worcestershire
- Used both red and yellow onion (the recipe calls for either)
- Added 2 cloves of minced garlic
- I had no gruyere on hand, so I melted Italian herbed mozzarella over the bread and casserole dish instead
- I also took the advice I saw in one of the reviews and toasted the bread before placing on top of the soup under the broiler
Other than shedding more than a few tears while slicing the onion, this recipe is painless to make. Caramelizing the onions is the most time consuming part of this recipe, but is an absolute must for a flavorful soup. Once you’ve finished preparing the onions, the rest of the recipe is quick.
I personally don’t think the type of cheese you use to top the bread with really matters. This recipe calls for gruyere which I do not keep on hand. The Italian herbed mozzarella worked just fine and I think I would have been just as happy with plain old cheddar.
It turned out so dang good and I was thrilled to have plenty of leftovers. It was even better the next day!
All photos in this post were taken by cookingbylt. To see more food ideas, follow me on Instagram.