Red French style Onion Soup
French onion soup is a hearty speciality consisting of an aromatic onion soup with bread topped with cheese. In our recipe we use red wine which gives this onion soup a great gourmet aroma. This great recipe makes it a fine soup for parties, like Christmas or birthday menus. Give our recipe a try, you will love it!
Original French onion soup
While a more liquid version of onion soup has become popular in many countries, in which you put a slice of bread with cheese, the original French version is eaten a little differently.
- No wine is added.
- Onion and stock are cooked together from the beginning. Later the onion is skimmed off and divided into individual portions in ovenproof dishes.
- Then alternate layers of toasted bread and grated Gruyère cheese on top are being placed.
- The onion broth is just poured in the end, up to just below the top layer of bread and cheese and baked in the oven afterwards.
The result of the original recipe is a full meal that is more like soggy bread and lots of cheese.
If you prefer a more liquid, lighter version, for example as a starter soup, cook it as in the recipe.
Which red wine is suitable?
A fruity, young, not too heavy red wine with few tannins is best. Wines such as Silvaner or Merlot are suitable. Whatever you don’t use for the soup, you can simply drink with it ;-).
If you prefer white wine, go for a French wine. If you can’t get any, Pinot Gris or Riesling are also good.
Looking for more soups? Try Courgette and brie soup, the savoury German cheese and leek soup or the Creamy asparagus soup.
French Onion Soup with Red Wine
Equipment
- Cooking pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 25 g butter
- 5 onions thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 litre beef stock
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 250 ml red wine
- 250 g Gruyere cheese grated
- 1 baguette bread
Instructions
- Melt the olive oil and butter together in a large pot. When hot, add the sliced onions and cook on a high heat until just starting to brown.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook for 15 minutes or until the bottom of the pan and the onions are nice and brown.
- Only then add the chopped garlic and thyme leaves and let simmer for the last 5 minutes.
- Add the beef stock, vinegar and red wine, stirring well to remove all the sediment from the bottom of the pan. Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 20 minutes.
- Now season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Just before serving: slice the baguette into 1cm thick slices and brush lightly with olive oil on both sides. Toast both sides under the grill. Top one side with grated cheese and place under the grill again to melt the cheese. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and place the cheesy toast on the top.
- Serve immediately with baguette bread.
