Photo by Heidi Harris
Joseph Marini shares how to make a classic, crowd-pleasing, French Onion Soup.
Prepare to amaze your guests with a classical French favorite—French Onion Soup. Served in individual tureens, the presentation alone will be enough to turn heads at your next dinner party. For an authentic French experience, Comté cheese is essential and can be found in most gourmet food stores.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 5 yellow onions, sliced thin – should yield 6 cups when sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely grated raw onion
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 French baguette
- 3 tablespoons cognac
- 12 ounces Comté or gruyere cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup white wine
- 6 cups beef bone broth
Directions
1 | In an 8-quart stockpot or Dutch Oven melt the olive oil and butter on medium-low heat until hot.
2 | Add the six cups of sliced onions and stir to coat. Cover the pot and let cook for 20 minutes – stirring intermittently. The onions should be tender and translucent. Remove the lid and turn the heat up to medium high. Add the sugar and salt and stir until combined. Continue to periodically stir the onions as they continue to cook and caramelize. They will have cooked down quite a bit and will be very well browned.
3 | Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the flour until the onions are well coated. Cook for three minutes more until a thick paste is formed.
4 | Whisk in the wine to deglaze the pot and stir in one cup of warmed beef broth until well incorporated. Add the additional stock, sage, bay leaf, black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5 | While the soup is simmering, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette into 1” thick slices and toast on a sheet tray until firm and golden brown.
6 | When the soup is finished cooking, add the grated onion, cognac, and ¼ cup of the grated cheese and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7 | Remove the bay leaf and adjust the flavor with some additional salt if needed, being careful not to oversalt the broth as the cheese is mildly salty.
8 | Place your individual tureens on a sheet tray and assemble the soup by adding a thick layer of onions in the bottom, then two or three slices of toasted baguette, and finally ladle in the broth making sure that the top of the baguette is left slightly exposed.
9 | Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese on each tureen so that it thickly covers the baguette. Place the sheet tray in the oven and allow the cheese to melt and brown on top. The broiler can be used at the very end for a final browning of the cheese if needed.
10 | Use caution when serving as the tureens will be very hot. Serve immediately while the cheese is soft and pliable.
See more of Joseph’s crowd-pleasing soup recipes!
By Joseph Marini
Photography by Heidi Harris
Excerpted from Mastering the Art of Entertaining (SparkPress, 2023).
“I’m often asked why I love entertaining so much. It took me a long time to understand the answer to this. Fitting in, even sometimes within a family, can be difficult. By entertaining, I was allowing myself to be vulnerable enough to be seen for who I was. It allowed me to create a group of family and friends that would truly see and appreciate my authenticity. I now realize the rewards of living intentionally and opening up m home (and heart) to bring people together over food.”
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