Fast and Frugal: Sweet Onion Soup

Sweet Onion Soup with White Cipollini Onions

I have a bad case of cabin fever.

As I write this, our weather is going from rain to snow, from 38 degrees to below freezing, and a thin, gritty coat of ice is starting to cover roads and cars. I've got a nagging sinus infection and the weather isn't helping it.

Fortunately, I've got a carton of frozen onion soup, made three months ago and stashed in the freezer so that it would be there to comfort me when I needed it.

I need it now.



Sweet Onion Soup (4 servings)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 6-8 large onions, peeled and sliced (I used white cipollini and sweet yellow onions)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth, preferably organic 
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 2 bay leafs
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• sea salt and pepper 

Place butter in a medium stockpot; melt over medium heat. Add sliced onion and garlic. Brown over medium heat until golden. Remove from stockpot and set aside. Deglaze stockpot with about a cup of chicken broth.

When onions have cooled a bit, toss with flour, and return to stockpot. Add remainder of chicken broth, thyme leaves and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Taste frequently and season as needed. Remove bay leaves before serving.

(I'm a huge taster. When I make soup, I use at least a dozen spoons, tasting frequently. I add whatever I need to make it taste good: an extra bay leaf, more salt, more herbs, etc.)

Serve with Gruyere, Parmesan or Swiss cheese - and preferably a baguette.

Last fall in Quebec City, we had a wonderful onion soup at Bistro Sous Le Fort near the funicular that makes moving between the upper and lower Old Town much easier than walking.

Definitely a tourist place, the bistro offered a charming wait staff and a lively atmosphere. Everyone around us was from somewhere else: Amsterdam, Paris, San Francisco. We were hungry from a day of plane travel (Message to O'Hare International Airport: Get some decent food!) and the soup was hearty and filling.

Bistro Sous Le Fort, Old Quebec, Lower Town