onion soup

I love onion soup, although I rarely get to eat it as it’s traditionally made with beef stock. So I order the goats cheese salad and get on with my day, but not this time, no sir-ee! This time I’m making my own and it’s gonna be better than any onion soup on the high street. HEAR THAT CAFE ROUGE?! I do hope so.
Anyway, half-way through making my soup, my housemate decides to tell me that she hasn’t eaten onion soup for over 20 years. 20 YEARS! Turns out, she suffered a rather violent fart attack on a family outing that was so severe, it left her stepdad’s eyes watering.
Once I’d stopped laughing, I turned my attention back to my soup, I’ll take my chances thanks. My housemate politely declines a bowl. Probably for the best.

White onion soup
Serves 4 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 1 hr mins / V ❄
3 medium brown onions, peeled and sliced
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced
30g unsalted butter
1 tsp of granulated sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp of Marmite
1 tbs plain flour
1 litre vegetable stock, I use 2 Knorr stock pots
Small bunch of thyme, tied together with string
60g medium vegetarian cheddar or Gruyere* grated
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 slices sourdough for croutons (optional)

Method
1. Peel and roughly chop all the onions and add to a large heavy bottomed pot with the butter. Sweat over a medium heat for 5 mins with the lid on stirring occasionally – add a dash of water to hep the onions steam and cook for a further 5 mins. Stir in the sugar and continue to cook for 10 mins with the lid on.
2. Mix in the flour and the mustard and cook for a couple more minutes before adding the stock, Marmite and the bunch of thyme. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for 30 mins. Remove from the heat and discard the bunch of thyme. Put to one side with the lid on. Turn a grill on a medium to high heat.
3. Toast the sourdough in a toaster and rub each with a peeled garlic clove. Ladle the soup into bowls, slice the sourdough in half and submerge each piece into each soup. Cover the slices with grated cheese and put under the hot grill until the cheese is bubbling.
4. Serve immediately with a good crack of black pepper.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.