Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Carb Diva Vegetarian French Onion Soup



Years and years (and decades?) ago, when my husband and I were working together, we discovered a restaurant near our office that once a week served French onion soup. I had never heard of French onion soup until I saw it on the menu (my mom was a good cook, but not very adventuresome).

To say that it was a "new taste sensation" is a gross understatement. Never before had I experienced a simple meal with so much intense flavor and textures in one tiny bowl--the richness of the broth, the fragrance of the herbs and onions, the creaminess of the cheeses, and the crunch of the toasted croutons.

And so over the years, with much trial and error (emphasis on the latter) I developed a recipe that I really liked. But, that original recipe included beef broth--not a favorable ingredient when someone you love (my younger daughter) is a vegetarian. So about 20 years ago I began my quest to create that same wonderful rich-tasting broth without the use of animals.

Here's how to do it:

Vegetarian Onion Soup

Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 red onions, thinly sliced (about 2 1/2 pounds)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
  1. Saute the onions in the olive oil in a large saute pan or dutch oven over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until browned--about 30  minutes. (This first step requires a bit of patience. The onions need to caramelize low and slow to develop the rich, sweet flavor one associates with french onion soup. Hurry the process with high heat and you'll end up with bitter, burned onions. If you don't allow the onions to develop a deep golden color you'll end up with flabby, watery, and tasteless onions.)
  2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add salt and pepper, wine, and tomato paste. Cook until wine is almost evaporated (about 5 minutes). Add water, tomatoes, and herbs. Bring to a boil and then cover; reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Stir in soy sauce. Discard bay leaves. We prefer to leave the tomato pieces in our soup, but you may strain the broth and discard the solids if you wish.

**************************

OK, now you have the vegetarian stock. And you can use this for so many more things than French onion soup. So, keep this recipe in your back pocket (as my dad would have said) for future reference. But, if you want to proceed to turn this into Ooey Gooey Cheesy Goodness, simply add:

  • 1 day-old baguette, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
  • about 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup Gruyere (or Swiss) cheese

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush bread slices with olive oil and bake in the oven until edges are brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
  2. When ready to serve, whisk the 1/2 cup Parmesan into your hot broth. It’s important to whisk in the cheese at the last minute, or else the cheese will fall to the bottom of the pot and burn. Ladle the warm soup into heatproof bowls, and lay a slice of the baked bread over each bowl. Sprinkle a layer of Gruyere cheese over the bread, and place the crocks under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and browns.
  3. Yummmmmmmmmmm!
Photo Credit: Image by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay 

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