I always love when friends or family ask me to post a specific recipe.

It takes the pressure off of me to think about what to cook and gives me a mission: find the perfect recipe and make it work.

Mission accomplished.

My friend Catherine asked me to post a recipe for French Onion Soup (which I was excited about since it just so happens to be one of my favorites).

I searched high and low and compared a thousand recipes before going with this classic recipe from Balthazars restaurant in New York. The sweet onion smell will fill every nook and cranny of your house (we smelled like onions for a week). Although it takes time to make, it is well worth the work. The longer you caramelize the onions the sweeter they become so make sure you set aside a couple hours to enjoy the process. And as though caramelized onions are not enough…you top it off with a thick layer of melted gruyere cheese…heavenly!

Recipe: French Onion Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients: 

1/4 Cup Plus 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

4 Medium Onions, peeled, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter

1 Garlic Clove, peeled and sliced

4 Sprigs Thyme

1 Bay Leaf

1 Tablespoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Ground White Pepper

3/4 Cups Dry White Wine

2 Quarts Chicken Stock

1/2 Cup Port (or red wine)

Country Bread, Sliced about 1 Inch thick and toasted

2 Cups Gruyere Cheese, grated

Directions:

In a large dutch oven or heavy pot heat the olive oil and add the onions, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Saute until they reach a golden color, about 30 minutes.

After golden, add butter, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring well.

Turn the heat up to high and once pan it hot, add wine and port and bring to a boil, or until reduced by about half.

Turn heat down and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Remove the thyme and the bay leaf from the soup and ladle into ovenproof bowls. Place toasted bread (I missed this step and even thought the soup was amazing, toasting the bread would have made a big difference in the texture so be sure you don’t skip this step!) on top of soup and cover generously with gruyere.

Place bowls under broiler for about 3 minuted, or until the cheese is melted and browned.

Let cool about 3-5 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Recipe Adapted From: Balthazar’s Restaurant