Onion Soup with Cheese

By corlear

Gratinée Lyonnaise

Onion soup, a bistro favourite throughout France, epitomizes the hearty cooking of Lyon. A 19th-century traveller exclaimed, "After a meal of onion soup, sausage, a good St-Marcellin cheese and a bottle of Juliénas, nothing more is needed hut a good night’s sleep."

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 lb onions, thinly sliced
• salt
• pepper
• 1 whole onion, peeled
• 1-2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 qt broth
• 1 loaf French bread OR 2-3 long crisp rolls, cut in thick slices
• 2 cups grated gruyére cheese
• 4-6 eggs (optional)
• 4-6 Tbsp port wine (optional)
• 4-6 individual ovenpoof soup bowls (marmites)

Preparation

Step 1

Melt half the butter in a shallow, heavy-based pan. Add the sliced onions, salt and pepper and press a piece of buttered paper or foil on top. Cover and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes or until the onions are very soft.

Remove the lid and paper and continue cooking until golden; don’t allow them to burn. This browning gives flavour to the soup.

In a separate pan melt another tablespoon of butter, add the whole onion and toss it until coated in butter. Sprinkle with the sugar and cook gently until very dark brown all over. Add the whole onion to the sliced onions and continue to cook together for 1—2 minutes. Add the broth with a little salt and pepper and simmer for 20—30 minutes; taste for seasoning. Discard the whole onion. Set the oven at low (150°C/300°F).

While the onions are simmering, bake the sliced bread until dry and lightly browned. Melt the remaining butter. Set 2 3 slices of bread in individual marmites and pour the soup over them. Sprinkle generously with grated cheese, moisten each bread slice with melted butter and grill/broil until browned.

Mix each egg yolk with a tablespoon of port, lift the side of the browned topping and pour in the mixture.

Serve at once; onion soup must be scalding hot.