Best Evah Onion Soup

I’ve eaten great onion soup and I’ve eaten really crappy onion soup, but up until the cold and snowy March of 2015, I’d never made it. I remember being in New York City with my daughter when I had one of the best bowls ever. Alex and I were at The Russian Tea Room and the French onion soup was sublime. Just the right balance of sweet and salty.

But it wasn’t until I read (somewhere) that the secret to great onion soup is the stock that I developed the desire to try making my own. So I bought soup bones, set a rather large pot on the stove, and boiled. And boiled. And boiled. I boiled those puppies for 17 hours. Lid on to avoid too much evaporation. Gentle rolling boil (bring it to a boil and then turn down to low to just keep the roll going). I didn’t add another thing to the pot… figured I’d get to that in the recipe.

I have it on good authority that some restaurants will take up to three days to make a veal stock. Me, I don’t have that kind of patience. Seventeen hours was my limit.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely!

Here’s the rest of the recipe:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
4 leeks, thinly sliced (just the white and light green parts)
4 shallots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp oregano
2 tsp rosemary
3 bay leaf
1 ½ cup dry red wine
1/4 cup wine vinegar
10 cups beef stock (if you want to skip making your own, use low sodium broth and adjust the salt accordingly)
3 tbs salt

Warm the olive oil, then add the onions, leeks, shallots and a generous pinch of salt. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes.

While the onions are caramelizing, add the garlic, tomato paste, thyme, oregano, rosemary, bay leaf and half the remaining salt to the stock. (You will add the remaining salt in small increments until you have as much salt as you you like.)

Add the wine and vinegar.

Once the onions are caramelized, add them to the stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup’s flavor is well developed… plan for about an hour.

This is the point at which, after cooling, I decant and freeze.

I serve the soup just like this, usually with some form of grilled cheese sammie on the side.

If you want to turn this into traditional French onion soup,

In a large skillet melt some butter.
Add the baguette slices and cook until golden and just crisp.
Preheat the broiler and position the rack at the lowest point in your oven.
Ladle soup into heatproof bowls, top with the baguette and about ¼ cup of Gruyere cheese.
Broil until the cheese is melted and just browning.