Name: Grandma's Onion Soup
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: española
Ingredients: 3 medium sweet onions; Butter (one tablespoon is enough); 1 glass of white wine or cognac; 2 liters of meat or vegetable broth; 6 slices of bread to toast; 3 tablespoons of wheat flour (optional); Grated Gruyere cheese for gratin; Salt; Pepper; Olive oil

The soup I bring today It is one of my favorites since apart from being delicious and being very easy to make, it reminds me of a trip I took in Paris in November 2020.

We were visiting the Montmartre neighborhood of the French capital and after touring this very special neighborhood of artists, it was time to eat something to recharge our batteries and continue visiting the city in the afternoon.

We took a look at the menu of many restaurants in the area and finally decided to enter one that was on the corner of a rather picturesque street.

For the first course I ordered the onion soup . At that time I was not very familiar with this recipe and decided to order it to taste it as I was quite curious.

I honestly thought it wouldn't be anything special since it was basically broth and onion.

I found out about this fantastic recipe and it turns out that it has been cooking since the Middle Ages in various parts of Europe.

It became fashionable in Paris during the 19th century when it was prepared in the Parisian market of Les Halles for people who came back from partying at night. Since then it has become a typical dish of French gastronomy.

A few weeks after returning from Paris, taking advantage of the fact that it was December and it was freezing cold, I decided to cook it myself. It was delicious and it is the recipe that I present below. Also, as many of you love to use the Thermomix to prepare your dishes, I also bring the recipe for onion soup with Thermomix.

How to make onion soup

To start preparing the soup, peel and cut the onion into strips (julienne) and keep it on one side. In a casserole we add a little olive oil and also the tablespoon of butter. Let cook over low heat to melt the butter.
Once the oil and butter have mixed, add the onion strips that we have previously cut and add a little salt and pepper. We let it cook for about 10 minutes. It is important to mix the ingredients with a spoon during this time.
Once the onion has cooked a bit and begins to be soft, add the 3 tablespoons of wheat flour. In this way the onion soup will gain consistency.
Stir for 5 minutes while it cooks over low heat and add the glass of white wine or cognac. We wait 4 minutes for the alcohol to evaporate.
After this time we add the meat or vegetable broth and let the entire mixture cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
During this time we preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Once this time has passed, we take 6 containers suitable for cooking in the oven and fill them with the onion soup that we have just prepared. In each of the containers we add a slice of bread and on top of the slice the cheese that we have chosen to gratin.
We put the containers in the oven for 5-8 minutes until the slices are toasted and the cheese is melted.
We take it out of the oven, serve it and now we can enjoy this delicious French soup recipe made with sweet onion.

Thermomix onion soup

In the Thermomix glass we add the butter, a little olive oil and the onion (cut into quarters). We chop for 5 seconds at speed 4.
Using a spoon, pull down the onion pieces that may have stuck to the wall of the food processor container and cook for 15 minutes at a temperature of 120 ºC, turn to the left and spoon speed (if you cook often with Thermomix You will already know these concepts). In this way we manage to mix all the ingredients gently.
After this time, add the vegetable or meat broth, pepper and a little salt to the mixture that we have previously prepared and let the soup cook for about 20 minutes at 100 ºC at spoon speed and turn to the left.
Once the 20 minutes have passed, we serve the onion soup in 6 containers, add a slice of bread to toast and a little Gruyere cheese on top. We let it gratin at 120ºC for 5 minutes.
After these 5 minutes, if we see that the slices are already toasted and the cheese gratin, we remove the containers from the oven and we can now enjoy this exquisite French dish of onion soup with gratin cheese.

Tricks to prepare the best bowl of onion soup with grilled cheese

This typical French dish is very easy to prepare and can really be very good. However, there are certain tips that if you follow, you will significantly improve your results in the kitchen.

Next we will tell you the 3 keys to follow to get the best onion soup and surprise your guests with this French-style starter.

type of onion

The best type of onion to choose for this dish are white onions as they have a sweeter flavor than purple ones. If we do not have sweet onion we can choose to add a teaspoon of sugar to give the recipe the sweet touch necessary in French cuisine.

When we add the onion cut into strips to the casserole, it is very important to add salt on top. Salt stimulates the sweating process and prevents it from burning. Therefore, don't forget to add salt!

How to prepare the best homemade broth for onion soup

Normally when I cook this recipe I add prepared meat broth from the supermarket. However, if you have time, I recommend preparing the broth at home the day before cooking the onion soup.

You can use all types of meat and vegetables to prepare it. Any meat broth recipe is valid for this dish. It is important to cook it over low heat so that it acquires all the flavors of the vegetables, the bones and the meat.

People who prefer can also use vegetable broth or just water. I recommend using water as the last option since the soup will not be as flavorful.

Choose the best bread to gratin

We recommend using bread that is 2 or 3 days old. In this way the bread will better hold the cheese that we will put on top when we gratin. Optionally we can spread the slices of bread with a clove of garlic. It will give it a delicious touch!

We can choose different types of cheese to add on top of the bread. I recommend using Emmenthal, Parmesan, or Gruyere cheese. But you can choose any other that is suitable for baking.