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- 700 g (11⁄2lb) small onions
- 75 g (3oz) butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- 15 ml (1 level tbsp) plain flour
- 200 ml (7fl oz) white wine
- 1 l (21⁄2 pints) vegetable stock
- Bouquet garni (see tip)
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Small loaf French bread
- 50 g (2oz) Gruyère cheese, grated
- Sprigs of fresh thyme and black pepper to garnish
- Step 1
Finely chop the onions. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add the chopped onions and cook slowly, stirring, until very soft and a deep golden brown. This should take at least 30min. Add the crushed garlic and flour and cook, stirring, for 1min. Pour in the white wine, bring to the boil and bubble until reduced by half. Add the vegetable stock, bouquet garni and seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, uncovered, for 20-30min.
- Step 2
Remove the bouquet garni and allow the soup to cool a little. Place one-third of the soup in a blender and liquidise until smooth. Return to the remaining soup and stir in.
- Step 3
Cut about 12 slices of French bread and toast lightly to a pale biscuit brown. Reheat the soup, adjust the seasoning and pour it into individual ovenproof bowls or one large bowl. Float the toasted bread on top of the soup and sprinkle thickly with the Gruyère cheese. Place each bowl under a preheated grill until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown. Garnish with thyme sprigs and crushed black pepper.
- Step 4
Prepare ahead. Complete the soup to the end of step 2. Cool quickly, cover and refrigerate for up to two days. To serve. Complete the recipe.
- Step 5
To freeze. Complete the soup to the end of step 2. Cool quickly, pack and freeze. To serve. Thaw at cool room temperature for 4hr. Place the soup in a saucepan, bring to the boil and continue to the end of the recipe.
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Make a homemade bouquet garni
To make a home-made bouquet garni, simply tie together a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a bay leaf, some parsley stalks and a 5cm (2in) piece of celery.Per Serving:
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
