French Onion Soup

For our Les Francophones get-together I wanted to make a French Onion Soup…  for 2 reasons: 

1. I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time now, and
2. I’ve witnessed how my fellow Francophones ordered Onion Soup in every French restaurant we visited… so I wanted true onion soup lovers to try out my vegetarian version.

I took inspiration from the Barefoot Contessa book from Ina Garten.

 

FRENCH ONION SOUP with GRUYERE CROUTONS

6-7 medium yellow onions, sliced

4 tbs of butter

1 tbs olive oil

1 bay leaf

½ cup sherry vinegar

½ cup white balsamic vinegar

8 cups of Roasted Vegetable Stock

Kosher Salt

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

1 whole wheat baguette

½ cup grated Gruyere cheese

 

1. In the largest stock pot you have, sauté the onions, butter, olive oil and bay leaf for 20-30 minutes, until the onions are a nice light brown color.
2. 
3. Deglaze the pot with the sherry and white balsamic vinegars and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
4. Add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the bay leaf and check to see if you need to adjust the seasonings.

 

You can make this soup before your guests arrive and it will keep warm for several hours.

Before serving the soup…

1. Slice the baguette in ½” slices; drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and place a mound of grated gruyere cheese on top.
2. Place in a 350° F oven until the croutons toast and the cheese melts and creates a nice brown crust.
3. Serve the crouton dunked in the soup.

 

The veredict???  Les Francophones loved it.  It’s a sure-fire hit!!!  Bien sûr.