Onion soup, without hurrying
Onion soup is mostly time. The ingredients are cheap and the method is almost embarrassingly short, but every attempt I made in a hurry tasted flat. This autumn I finally gave it the whole afternoon.
Start with more onions than looks reasonable: about a kilo for four bowls. Slice them thin and let them go into a wide pot with butter and a pinch of salt over low heat. The first twenty minutes decide everything. The onions release water, then slowly lose it, then begin to color. If you stir too often they steam instead of browning.
- 1 kg yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 50 g butter and a spoon of oil
- 1 litre light stock, a splash of dry white wine
- Thyme, a bay leaf, salt, pepper
When the onions are the color of dark honey, add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot. Pour in the stock, add the herbs and simmer for another forty minutes. Toast a slice of bread, cover it with grated cheese and put it under the grill for a few minutes.