Onion Soup... Not the Hardest Thing to Make After All

Anyone who knows my sister knows that onion soup is one of her two ultimate favorite foods. So, when she asked me to help her prepare a romantic meal for her boyfriend, I naturally thought of onion soup. At first, the thought was a little scary... in my mind, the soup always seemed like something rather complicated to assemble (creating a savory broth, melting all the ingredients just right, etc...) but I was able to find and tweak a simple recipe that resulted in an impressive onion soup that my sister and her man both enjoyed.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 large Vidalia onions, sliced

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, diced)

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

4 cups beef broth

2 slices ciabatta bread, cut in half

4 oz shredded gruyere cheese

2 ovenproof ramekins

Start by heating the olive oil in a large pot and adding the sliced onions, salt, pepper and garlic powder/clove. Cook until the onions are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the thyme, butter and broth, and let simmer for another 15 minutes. This will probably make your kitchen smell really yummy.

Spoon the soup into an ovenproof ramekin or an onion soup bowl. Slice some ciabatta and place in the soup, then cover with a good helping of sliced gruyere cheese. Drizzle with a lot olive oil and season with a dash of salt and pepper. The soup in this photo was kind of a test run.... lots more cheese was added to the actual eaten version.

Place under the broiler for 5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown and the bread crisps up a bit. Be sure to watch it so it won't burn. A couple extra minutes under a broiler can really ruin a meal!

Serve immediately and try not to burn the roof of your mouth on the hot gruyere.