French Onion Soup

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Start to finish: 1 hour
Impresses: 4

Ingredients

For the soup:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
½ cup white wine
6 cups beef stock
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon ground white pepper

For the grilled cheeses:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced
French baguette
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

Method

For the soup:
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onions and cook until caramelized, about 35 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic and thyme, and cook an additional minute. Bring heat to medium-high and add white wine to deglaze the pan.

Pour in beef stock, bay leaf and white pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.

For the grilled cheeses:
Heat oven to 425 F. Add butter slices to a large baking sheet and place in the oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. While butter melts, cut 8 slices off the baguette. Place bread slices on the baking sheet in a single layer. Top 4 slices with ¼ cup each of shredded Swiss. Top the remaining four slices with ¼ cup each of shredded Gruyere. Bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese starts to melt. Assemble sandwiches by pairing a Swiss half with a Gruyere half.

Return to oven to bake an additional 3 minutes.

To serve:
Ladle into a bowl or ramekin and top with a petite grilled cheese.