French Onion Soup / Supa frantuzeasca de ceapa

Directions

1. Peel and slice onions.                                                                

2. In a large pot, melt butter over a medium flame. Add onions and sugar and sauté until golden (add more butter if onions start to stick, turn heat down if they are burning).                                             

3. Slowly add beef broth and heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.                                                              

4. While soup simmers, grate the cheeses and set aside. For the hard cheese, we recommend parmesan.            

5. Turn the oven on high. Brush bread slices with a bit of olive oil or spread lightly with butter.

6. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake in the hot oven until toasted and dry (flip bread occasionally). After you remove the bread, keep the oven on, you'll need it again soon.                              

7. Add sherry to the soup and adjust flavoring if necessary. Simmer for another 5 minutes.         

8. Begin preparing the soup bowls. Place a slice of toasted bread in each bowl. Sprinkle bread with both cheeses (about ¼ c total per slice of bread). Set the bowls on a baking sheet.                

9. When the soup is done, gently ladle it into the bowls around the bread - don't fill them too full. Transfer the soup bowls into the hot oven for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately so the bread doesn't become too soggy.

                                                              

Notes: This yummy soup looks a bit complicated, but it’s actually quick and simple, and you can make substitutions for all the hard to find ingredients! We recommend only preparing as many soup bowls as you can fit in your oven at a time. Otherwise, some bowls sit longer and the bread gets really soggy. And of course, of you're only cooking for one or two, only prepare bowls for that many. If you have a toaster, you can use it to toast your bread instead of the oven. If you have a broiler, this is the ideal way to melt the cheese and finish off the soup.

 

Variations: If you have old bread that you’ve made into nice crispy croutons, these are even better than slices of fresh bread.

 

Substitutions: Dry sherry/Dry white wine. Beef broth/8 c water and 2-3 beef bouillon cubes. Swiss and Parmesan cheeses/Any cheese you'd like.

 

References: *See the Beef Broth recipe.