Baked French Onion Soup With Gruyère Pastry 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.

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.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• For the soup: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the onions in half from root to tip, then slice them thin.
• Melt the butter in a heavy ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions, stir to coat them in the butter and cook, covered, until translucent and soft, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar. Roast the onions for 1 hour, stirring twice to keep them from burning. (Some brown bits on the bottom of the pan are fine though.)
• Return the pot to the stovetop over medium heat (keep the oven on) and pour in the wine. Stir, scraping the pan. Cook until the wine reduces, 5 minutes. Next, add the beef broth, chicken broth, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer for 45 minutes.
• For the croutons: Meanwhile, drizzle slices of French bread with olive oil and toast in the oven until golden. Set aside.
• To serve, turn on the oven broiler. Ladle the soup into ovenproof bowls. Place 1 or 2 pieces of the croutons on top of each serving of soup, depending on the size of the bowl. Place a thick slice of cheese on top of each bowl, then place the bowls on a baking sheet and broil just long enough for the cheese to become melted, bubbly and slightly toasted.
• Serve immediately.

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.