Vegetarian French Onion Soup
Vegetarian French Onion Soup
This winter has been the first since I moved to California that has actually felt like a real winter. The mornings are cold, once in a while I need to cover my plants when it will get too cold overnight, and dare I say it...I've had to turn on my heat. HEAT.
The nice thing about this first real rain season/winter is that there have been many nights that I have just wanted to be home, under the blankets cozy with a bowl of soup.
It has been YEARS since I've had a French Onion Soup since I went vegetarian and the base of French Onion Soup is Beef Broth.
However I went to a vegan restaurant here in town that served it and I have been obsessing ever since.
This recipe really has some depth to it, which surprised me a little.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 large shallots thinly sliced
3 small sweet yellow onions thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp dry sage
1 tsp honey
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
2 quarts mushroom broth
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
black pepper
french bread slices
full fat mozzarella or gruyere cheese
Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot with a heavy bottom over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, onions, garlic and honey. Cook around 10-15 (it actually took me closer to 20) minutes, stirring frequency until the onions are softened and a deep golden brown in color. Really allow the onions to get a nice caramelization. Add the thyme and sage and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to low and sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and stir for 1-2 minutes until the far flour taste is gone. Add the wine and allow to deglaze the frond that developed on the bottom of the pan. then add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Turn the heat back up to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the bay laves and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Preheat the broiler.
5. Ladle the soup into oven safe bowls and add a slice of bread to each bowl. Top evenly with cheese. Place each soup bowl on a baking sheet and place in the oven to broil until the cheese has caramelized. This should take around 3 to 5 minutes.
