Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée

[quanglewangle]

Used some of our onions for a batch of onion soup to freeze.
With garlicy croutons and bubbly grilled Gruyère cheese it makes a meal in itself.

The keys to good rich onion soup are

• caramelise the onions really well (see pics)
• use decent red wine, not white as some recipes say.

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks QW you're right about onions caramelising them makes all the difference. The Kenwood makes bulk slicing easier mines an older model that came with 2 shredders and 2 slicers. still very handy though.

[Jay22]

Love French Onion soup but I’ve never made it!

[Nicos]

I can see caramelising them like that and freezing them in small batches would save a lot of time in the future too with other dishes - not just in the form of soup.
Might as well have a few pans on the go too! ( I love time saving ideas!)
I read somewhere that they should be caramelised for well over an hour to bring out their true flavour.
How long did your recipe suggest Q?

Have you got a favoured recipe?

[quanglewangle]

I can see caramelising them like that and freezing them in small batches would save a lot of time in the future too with other dishes - not just in the form of soup.
Might as well have a few pans on the go too! ( I love time saving ideas!)
I read somewhere that they should be caramelised for well over an hour to bring out their true flavour.
How long did your recipe suggest Q?

Have you got a favoured recipe?

Yeh, takes hour and a half with more or less constant stirring for last 30mins. 1.5kg of onion down to couple hundred grams means over a litre of water come off. Fortunately our cooker hood vents outside else the place would be streaming with condensation.
Will type up the recipe and post it later.

[quanglewangle]

OK, here is the recipe I use. I use veggie stock rather than the traditional chicken stock since mrs quanglewangle is a veggie, and I can't tell the difference.

Thick dark rich onion soup, not to confused with thin see-through onion tea.

Makes about 2.5l of soup. Takes a good 2 hours working time plus hour to simmer

• 100g butter
• 50ml oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1.5kg onions, prepared weight
• 2l vegetable stock ie 12 green oxo cubes in 2l water
• 500ml red wine

1. Melt 100g butter in a 5l pan along with 50ml oil
2. Add 1.5kg thinly sliced onion (weight after peeling and slicing)
3. Add three or four crushed garlic cloves
4. Caramelize of med heat: this doesn't really need any attention for about 30-40mins with lid on then you need remove lid and start stirring to stop it catching on the bottom. Use a wooden or plastic spoon. Allow an hour and a half.
5. When it is nut brown and about to burn (looks awful but don't worry) de-glaze the pan with 500ml of red wine.
6. Add 2l of vegetable stock (2l water and 12 green oxo cubes)
7. Simmer for an hour and allow to cool.

To freeze

Freeze in soup dishes lined with cling film or silicon kitchen paper (so you can keep reusing the dishes)

Serve with croutons (whole different recipe!) topped with grilledGruyère cheese

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for sharing your recipe QW I'll add this thread to my vine blog so I don't lose it.

[Nicos]

Thanks for that Q…sounds yummy!