Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau | Once Upon a Tart | Alfred A. Knopf, 2003 | Makes 6 servings
When Frank was 10 years old, he “borrowed” a French cookbook from the Livingston Public Library. (In fact, he still has that book and still uses it.) He found a recipe for an easy French onion soup that he loved to make for his family. It seemed foreign to him, and fancy. His mom was so pleased with his initiative that she went out and bought proper crocks for him to serve the soup in. And his dad would come home from his grocery-shopping trips to New York City with big chunks of Gruyère cheese, even though, being Italian, this was not something he would ever have bought if it weren’t for Frank and his soup thing.—Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau
LC Gooey, Stringy, Clingy Cheese Note: Many old-fashioned French onion soups demand a gooey, stringy, clingy cheese that clamps down on the soup dish to create a taut, trampoline-like surface. Not this recipe, which calls for sprinkling cheese on the bread rather than over the entire bowl. The reliance on croutons mean you can indulge your whim for virtually any cheese that melts readily. Comté tends to be quite traditional for a French onion soup, although Emmentaler, mozzarella, Manchego, or any of countless others will also work, as would Gruyère. Heck, perhaps the cheese doesn’t even need to melt. We’re thinking a fresh goat cheese might be quite nice…
Gooey, Cheesy Baked French Onion Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 big yellow onions, quartered and thinly sliced
- 2 red onions, quartered and thinly sliced
- 4 leeks, root end and dark-green tops removed, sliced 1/4 inch thin, and washed
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 day-old baguette
- Grated Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
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1. Saute the yellow and red onions and the leeks in the butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning.
2. When the onions have begun to soften slightly and reduce in volume, 5 to 10 minutes, lower the heat to medium and continue to saute them for about an hour, until they are caramel in color and almost melted. You don’t want the onions to burn, so, if it looks like they’re heading in that direction, lower the flame even more, or splash a little bit of water over them — this buys you some cooking time.
3. Sprinkle the onions with the flour, stirring all the while so the flour doesn’t clump. Saute for another 5 minutes to cook off the floury taste.
4. Pour the stock over the onions and bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
5. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Slice the stale bread, brush the slices with olive oil, scatter them on a sheet pan, and bake until the bread dries out and the edges are golden brown.
6. Just before you’re ready to serve the soup, whisk in the Parmesan cheese. It’s important to whisk in the cheese at the last minute, or else the cheese will fall to the bottom of the pot and burn. Ladle the warm soup into heatproof bowls, and lay a slice of the baked bread over each bowl. Sprinkle a layer of Gruyère cheese over the bread, and place the crocks under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and browns.
- Roasted Pumpkin and Onion Bisque from Fun and Food Blog
- Guinness Onion Soup with Bleu Cheese Croutons from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
- Apple-Onion Soup with Cheddar-Bacon Croutons from Leite’s Culinaria
- Leek and Potato Soup with Bacon from Leite’s Culinaria
Easy onion soup recipe © 2003 Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau. All rights reserved.
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[Dena Eran] The BEST onion soup ever is NOT made with beef stock. Using chicken stock was a real revelation. We really enjoyed this soup—the onions were cut in smaller pieces than specified in other recipes, so they did not dribble down our chins when we were spooning them out of the bowl. The addition of red onion and leeks really made for a much richer soup. We used a combination of regular Gruyère and an aged Gruyère for the topping, and it was superb. Our house guest who said that he wasn’t a fan of French onion soup, ate his all up and asked for seconds.
[Sara Pitts] I wish it had been colder down here in Atlanta when I made this; it will make a great snow day-meal sometime! Rich and sweet, the soup balances well with the saltiness of the Gruyère crouton on top, but is just as good without it. It takes some time to pull all the ingredients together, but it still a simple recipe and definitely worth the effort.
How do you make the top gooey and burnt? We tried it last night but it did not form a cheese top over the crock.
Hi Barbara,
Sorry that you did not get a gooey-licious cheese top. Perhaps a bit more cheese? How long did you run it under the broiler? Let us know if you try it again.
Barbara, my guess, as Beth indicates, is the broiler. How long did you keep it under the flame? It needs time to melt and brown. Also you want to keep it not too close (where it will burn) and not too far (where it will take a long time to brown).
OH, I love cheesy gooey French Onion Soup; have not had in years. You have inspired me to feed that craving!!
Then you must make it, and you must post. Any pix send my way and I’ll post here for you.
This recipe makes me so-o hungry for this soup. I am going to have to make it soon! Thankyou!Rita
I made 1/2 recipe yesterday and was immediately enlightened. My chef always told me to only use yellow onions for French onion soup, so I broke the rules. The soup had a sweetness previously untasted and caused probably by the leeks. Thank you for this taste bomb.
You’re very welcome! Love those cooking epiphanies. Just love them.
I’m on a huge soup kick lately with the cold weather and this looks heavenly. I only really started to take cooking seriously in the last 1.5 years or so, and have been amazed how, really, easy it is to make delicious and soul-warming soups. I’m adding this one to my recipe stack.