Tom Kitchin recipe: French onion soup
Tom Kitchin and fellow chef Dominic Jack provide some of their favourite recipes for starters to give you some inspiration.
I’ve decided to share my recipe for French onion soup this week. It’s a classic – warming and comforting, but also light enough to work as a perfect prelude to our roast beef and all the trimmings. The key to great onion soup is slow cooking. Make sure you cook the onions until they are caramelised and incredibly rich and tender. The result will be a clean, mellow, slightly sweet soup. Add to that some croutons and melted cheese and you have the ideal cosy, yet festive starter.
Ingredients
- For the soup
- 50g butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg onions, thinly sliced and chopped
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 250ml dry white wine
- 1 litre beef stock
- For the garnish
- 1 baguette (1 day old is the best so it’s dry enough to cut really thin slices)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 80g grated Scottish cheddar cheese or the classic Gruyère
Serves: 4 Difficulty: Easy Time to cook: 30 mins
Method
For the soup
1 Take a heavy-bottomed pan and place over a medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. Add the chopped onions and cover with a lid for around 10 minutes until they begin to go soft.
2 Add the brown sugar, cover with the lid again and cook for a further 30 minutes until the onions begin to caramelise, but take care to ensure they don’t burn.
3 Add the crushed garlic, and cook for another few minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and keep stirring. Slowly add the white wine and continue to stir until reduced.
4 Then add the hot beef stock gradually. Cover with the lid again and cook for approximately 20 minutes.
For the garnish
1 Pre-heat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3.
2 Cut around 24 very thin slices of the baguette. Lay the slices of bread on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven until lightly golden brown.
3 Serve with your choice of Gruyère or grated cheddar. You can serve the croutons and cheese on the side, or grill the cheese on top of the toast and place in the bowl of soup.
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