So enamoured with this wonderfully wintery soup, we went ahead and invented a word to describe it - frustic. Equal parts fancy and rustic, 'frustic' seems to fit the bill. And while our new word probably won't win you friends at your next scrabble night, the soup certainly will!
And hey, can we have a round of applause for onions, the absolute star of this dish? Let's face it, onions are often left on the side lines in most recipes. Not here. This soup is all about the melty, caramelly goodness of onions that you can achieve when you give them the TLC they deserve. Oh, and this is a really economical meal too, as onions are always great value.
Of course, you can't have an authentic French onion soup without that signature cheesy toasty-topper. We've used some amazing sourdough from local legends Baked Uprisingand tasty cheddar cheese from our friends at Hunter Belle to seal the deal.
Here's how to create a 'Frustic' French Onion Soup at your place this week:
French Onion Soup
For 4-6 serves you need:
6 brown onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp Artisan Vegetable Stock Powder
1 litre water
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup pure cream
1 cup white wine
Sourdough, sliced
2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
Saltand pepper, to taste
To make:
- Combine the sliced onions, cream, butter, and salt in a large, deep sauté pan or pot/Dutch oven set over medium heat
- Start stirring when you hear the butter sizzling
- Cook until the onions are soft and translucent,10-15 minutes
- Keeping the cream at a low boil, spread the onions evenly over the bottom of the pot, then raise the heat slightly, cooking the onions and occasionally stirring until the bottom of the pot begins to turn brown, 20 minutes or so
- Stir the onions to scrape up any residue, then pour in ½ cup wine and deglaze the pot
- Stir up the brown bits as best you can, then keep cooking and stirring until a brown residue starts to build up again and the liquid has mostly evaporated
- Deglaze the pot with another ½ cup wine and repeat the process of cooking, stirring, and deglazing until you have used all the wine up and the onions have taken on a deep caramel colour
- Make up your stock by combining stock powder and water
- Pour in your stock, bring the soup to a simmer, and cook until the liquid and onions have melded together, 15-20 minutes
- While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
- When the soup is done simmering, taste and season with salt and pepper as needed
- Let the soup sit over very low heat while you toast the bread
- Ladle the soup into ovenproof bowls, filling nearly to the rims
- Float the toast slices (cutting if needed to fit the bowl) on top of each serving and sprinkle generously with cheese
- Transfer the bowls to sit in a baking tray and carefully place in the oven
- Bake until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and browned, 20-30 minutes
- Top with parsley and serve immediately - ooh lah lah!
Want to make this this week? Order the ingredients today for home delivery or local pickup.
