Baked onion soup

A hearty bouillon soup filled with sweet onions, covered with shredded cheese and baked in an oven until golden brown.

A delicious bowl of onion soup with gooey cheese on top. Perfect comfort food, but even better as the start of a lavish meal. You can make it right at home with this foolproof recipe.

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You will need

4 slices of white bread (French bread preferably, but toast works just as fine)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

500 grams of sweet onions (approx. 18 ounces)

1 tablespoon of sugar

¼ liter (approx. 1 cup) dry white wine for chicken broth/red wine for beef broth (optional)

1 clove of garlic (optional)

1 liter (approx. 4 ¼ cups) of chicken broth (traditionally: beef broth)

1 bay leaf

125 grams (approx. 1 cup) of grated sharp Swiss cheese, preferably Gruyère

Salt and pepper, to taste

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Cut your bread so it fits into your oven-proof soup bowl, if necessary. Toast the slices and set aside. Peel and crush your garlic clove. Peel and slice the onions. It’s okay to cry. They’ll just add flavor to the soup!

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the onions until they are soft. Add the sugar and keep on stirring until the onions take on a deep caramel color – this may take a while!

Stir in the garlic clove and continue to cook for about two minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the white wine. If, for some reason, you need to skip out on the alcohol you can omit the wine and replace the amount needed with water or additional broth. Wine just makes this soup ever so flavorful.

Let it all simmer for about 20 minutes, until the amount of wine is reduced in the pot and starts to become a little bit sticky. Stir in the broth and bay leaf and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 230°C (445 °F). Ladle your soup into oven-proof soup bowls and top each with a slice of toasted bread. Sprinkle liberally with grated cheese and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden.