1/2 cup butter
6 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon brown sugar
salt and pepper
1/2 bottle of good quality dry red wine
4 tablespoons UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 loaf French bread
Grated mozarella cheese
I could live on French Onion Soup for the rest of my life…Make sure you use a good quality red wine for this soup!
DIRECTIONS
In a 6-8 quart pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook the onions until caramelized – or about one hour. The onions should be dark brown in color, but not burned. Have patience with this part of the process! Add the wine, scraping the bottom and sides to loosen any residue from the onions. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the wine has reduced to 1/4, or the onions are mostly dry. Sprinkle the flour on the wine / onion mixture and cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for another 30 minutes.
To Serve:
There are two methods, one for those who have French onion soup crocks, and one for those who don’t.
If you have the crocks, fill them with the hot onion soup, leaving about 1/2″ of space on top. Place a thick slice or two of French bread on top and sprinkle generously with shredded mozzarella cheese. Place under boiler until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.
If you don’t have the crocks, slice the French bread thickly and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and place under broiler until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Ladle hot soup into bowls, leaving 1/2″ space on top. Place the cheese topped bread slices into the soup and voilà! Enjoy.
