With fewer ingredients than the classic French Onion Soup, this simplified version gets flavor from white wine and chicken stock. Not that the traditional inclusion of veal stock, cognac and brandy isn’t great, I just tend to not have those ingredients on hand. Plus, have you ever made beef or veal stock? In an apartment? It takes DAYS to get the beefy smell out of your small space. And it’s a beefy smell that isn’t so great.
I enjoy this soup all year long. While it’s perfect for fall and winter it’s amazing on a cooler or rainy day come spring and summer. Leeks, onions and garlic are also available all year long in conventional grocery stores and many farmers markets.
Instead of finishing the soup under the broiler with a generous baguette slice and plenty of Gruyere cheese, I top it with a spoonful salty Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It keeps the recipe lighter and gluten-free, plus makes it easy on you if you’re entertaining and serving the soup to a crowd. Soup can be made up to 3 days ahead and easily doubles, just use a very large stock pot!
Onion Soup
serves 5
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 leeks, cleaned and trimmed, whites and light greens thinly sliced
3 medium yellow onions, diced
3 medium red onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Kosher salt
1 2/3 cups white wine
8 cups chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Heat butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add leeks, onions, garlic and thyme along with 2 large pinches of salt and stir to combine. Cook until onions begin to turn golden, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, as you don’t want them to stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
Add the white wine and stir onions constantly to deglaze the pan and remove any golden bits on the bottom. Simmer onions until wine is completely cooked down, about 10 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer over medium-low and cook until soup has slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper as you see fit. Serve soup in bowls topped with a generous spoonful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
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