French Red Onion Soup

By Angie McGowan | January 28th, 2011 at 6:19 pm

I found this big bag of red onions at the supermarket on sale the other day. I’ve been using them in sandwiches, but I was thinking about what else I could do with them to really show off their flavor. Usually, I only use red onions for sandwiches when I can’t find vidalia onions, my favorite sweet onion. I have even been known to eat vidalia onion sandwiches, a weird habit that I acquired from my great grandmother.

I came up with the idea to put red onions in a french onion soup along with some red wine. I added lots of flavor to this soup by adding Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. I used dried tarragon, but you could also use dried thyme instead. I topped this soup with a few slices of french bread and lots of Gruyere cheese. Gruyere is traditional for French onion soup, but since it can be a little pricey, you can substitute Swiss cheese. Then I melted it under the broiler. It’s oh so ooey gooey and delicious.

Ingredients

Soup

1 1/2 lbs red onions, sliced in 1/2 inch wedges
1/2 lb sweet yellow onions, sliced in 1/2 inch wedges
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine

To garnish

1 fresh baguette
2 cups freshly grated Gruyere cheese

Method

1. Preheat a large soup pot. Add olive oil and butter, and then onions. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat until browned, stirring frequently to prevent burning, about 20 – 30 minutes.

2. When onions are browned, add balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, dried tarragon, freshly cracked black pepper, chicken broth, beef broth and red wine. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes.

3. Preheat broiler. Spoon soup into oven safe bowls and top with a slice of baguette and 1/2 cup cheese. Melt cheese under broiler and serve.

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