Best Baked Onion Soup With A GruyÈre Cheese Bread Crust Recipes

CLASSIC ONION SOUP WITH GRUYERE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and preheat broiler.
• Melt butter and oil together in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and sugar and cook 10 minutes, until onions are tender and golden brown. Add thyme, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper and stir to coat. Cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add port and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Add broth and Parmesan rind and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves and Parmesan rind and ladle soup into oven-proof bowls. Place bowls on a baking sheet. Place reserved bread rounds or a sourdough round into each bowl and top bread with Gruyere cheese. Broil 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.

BAKED FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH GRUYèRE PASTRY

Steps:

• Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. When the butter has melted, stir in the onions, cover, and cook slowly until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the salt, garlic and sugar, letting the onions catch on the bottom of the pan, stirring frequently until they are golden in colour. Sprinkle the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove from heat, allow to cool a moment, then whisk in 1 pint of the beef stock, the thyme and the bay leaf.
• When well blended, bring to the simmer, adding the rest of the stock, Cognac, Madeira and white wine and simmer very slowly for 1/2 an hour, adding a little water if the liquid reduces too much. Check for seasoning.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F Roll out the puff pastry and sprinkle with half the Gruyere cheese, fold into 3 and roll out again until it is half cm thick, then cut out 4-6 lids.
• Divide the soup among 4-6 ovenproof soup bowls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of soup and cover with the pastry lids with a little egg wash seal and bake the soup in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheesy puff pastry is golden in colour and well risen.
• Serve immediately by breaking through the pastry which then doubles up as your crouton.

FRENCH ONION SOUP: THE COOK'S ILLUSTRATED WAY

Steps:

• For the soup:.
• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400°. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume).
• Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
• Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat.
• Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly.
• Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
• Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.
• Stir in wine and balsamic vinegar, stirring frequently, until wine evaporates, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in broths, 2 cups water, the thyme, bay leaf and parsley (tied with twine or wrapped in cheese cloth for easy removal from pot) and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
• Increase heat to high and bring to simmer.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
• For the croutons: While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400-degree oven until bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
• To serve: Adjust oven rack 4 to 6 inches from broiler and heat broiler.
• Set heat-safe soup bowls or crocks on rimmed baking sheet and fill each with about 1 1/2 cups soup.
• Top each bowl with two toasted baguette slices (try not to overlap) and divide Swiss cheese slices, laying them in a single layer, if possible, on bread.
• Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese and broil until well browned and bubbly, 7 to 10 minutes.
• If using regular soup bowls, broil the toasts and the cheese only and then place the toasts on top of the soup.
• Cool 5 minutes and serve.