French Onion Soup

We are on the last week of February and that means winter will be officially over in a couple of days. The recipe I’m going to share right now is a Winter-Special, that I promised I’d find a way to prepare on Instagram. I’m talking about the “French Onion Soup”, which speaking of, since I tried it in Paris I’ve been craving it and tried to remake it with the help of my memory- taste-palette.

In addition I wanted to make it student-approved by not using ovenproof bowls (because I don’t own any and most students don’t). I’m pretty sure I reached the flavour I remember tasting in Paris, so here is my take on it ..

Ingredients:

-        3 medium onions

-        1 large garlic clove

-        3 tbsp butter

-        1 tbsp olive oil

-        2/3 cup of white wine

-        5 cups of boiling hot water

-        1 (vegetable) bouillon cube

-        1 tbsp brown sugar

-        4 tbsp white flour

-        2 bay leaves

-        1 tsp dried rosemary

-        2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

-        salt & black pepper

Preparation:

Firstly make sure to slice the onions thinly and finely chop the garlic clove.

Heat a pan and add the butter and olive oil. After butter is totally melted (not burnt), add and sautée the onions & garlic for about 4-5 minutes until golden brown. *Lowering the heat to a medium will make sure the onions don’t get burned.

Then add the brown sugar (give them a quick stir) + add the flour and continue to stir them around. As soon as they get a bit tacky add the white wine.

Next, because the wine will quickly evaporate, add half of the hot water while stirring so everything uniformly combines together, making a thicker onion soup consistency.

At this point add the bouillon cube + the other half of the hot water and stir well again.

Add the bay leaves and the rosemary and leave it simmer at a low-medium heat for about 8-10 minutes.

Now it’s the time to check if it’s salty enough and add salt if it needs more, but remember it isn’t supposed to be entirely salty. That sweet taste of the caramelized onions is the most important part and salt should give you just a little hint.

 I ended up adding just A PINCH .. and don’t forget the parsley.

While it simmers for another couple of minutes, butter and toast a thick slice of white bread (per serving) in the oven until golden and then add a mountain of cheese to melt on top. Joking .. but don’t be shy with the cheese *(I used gouda).

[Recap of the last step] So 10 minutes passed and you just put the bread back in the oven with the cheese on top.

Turn off your stove and let the soup sit there so it’s hot when served.

Check on the bread and when the cheese has melted, remove it from the oven and it’s time to assemble our bowl of soup.

I like serving the soup on a bowl, shredding some cheese on top and then lastly by putting in the slice of bread covered in melted cheese.

At first it looks like the shredded cheese doesn’t melt, because it holds its shape in water (soup). When you actually try it, as you’re tasting it you get the best cheese pulls you’ve ever seen on soup. Seriously the best version if you don’t have the oven proof bowls…. #mystudentsoutthere

Warm your soul and treat your taste buds ..

ENJOY!!