Philadelphia, PA - Winter-essential: this velvety and buttery soup! Caramelized onions add depth and rich flavor, while garlic bread slices and Gruyere cheese round out this delectable meal! Note: Caramelizing onions takes time - up to an hour in total! Be sure to wear oven mitts for extra safety during this process!
1. Caramelized Onion Soup
Warm and comforting comfort soup. Made with hearty beef stock base with caramelized onions and topped with toast covered in melty Gruyere cheese. A simple 30-minute active-time recipe using ingredients most people always have on hand in their pantry.
Caramelizing onions is vital to making this soup. These gorgeous, sweetly inviting onions must cook slowly over an extended period - usually an hour or more - to become profoundly brown and jammy - this time investment won't disappoint you.
Deglaze the pan with wine to add depth of flavor. This soup can be made ahead (without the croutons) and frozen before being rewarmed beautifully without losing its delicious texture. Plus, it's gluten-free, dairy-free (if using ghee), vegetarian-friendly, and can even be made ahead and stored in an airtight container until ready! The toasted bread topping can be prepared and kept sealed until serving time!
2. French Onion Soup
French Onion Soup can be the ultimate comfort food on a cold, miserable day, with its decadent broth and caramelized onions melting away in your mouth like soft, velvety clouds. And adding slices of cheese melted over freshly-toasted baguette slices elevates this soup to something truly exceptional.
French Onion Soup contains beef broth (or chicken broth), onion, butter, sherry, marsala white wine, and flour as its primary ingredients. Salt may also be added for additional moisture release from onions. At the same time, caramelization and an extra spicy kick for additional umami flavor occur faster.
3. Roasted Onion Soup
This soup shares many ingredients with classic French Onion Soup. Still, it adds two types of onions (white and red), cooked differently: slow frying and roasting. Roasting gives sweeter and more intense onions while simultaneously decreasing the rubbery texture. Finally, marmite is added for an additional depth. Of course, if it isn't your cup of tea, leave it out.
Once the onions have been roasted, they are transferred into a pot with all the liquid ingredients and simmered gently. Add white wine or sherry to deglaze the pan (please refer to recipe notes for more information). Flour is then used to create a roux that thickens up the soup. Once it reaches the desired thickness, season before garnishing it with slices of French toast loaded with Gruyere cheese for an unforgettable bowl of soup!
4. Creamy Onion Soup
Caramelized onions take on a new taste in this velvety soup recipe that will wow family and friends.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add leeks, garlic cloves, shallots, and half the onions; cook for approximately 10 minutes or until vegetables become soft and translucent. Stir in chicken broth and water before covering and simmering 15 minutes more.
Sprinkle with flour; cook and stir for 1 minute. Gradually pour milk and continue simmering over medium-high heat until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Adjust seasoning as desired with thyme, salt, and pepper before stirring in remaining onions and celery for another 15 to 20 minutes before placing back into simmer mode until vegetables are soft enough to be served.
Puree the soup, if desired, in a blender (ensuring only half of it fills to avoid overflow). Serve garnished with more caramelized onion, herbs, or rye croutons as desired, and enjoy!
