Grilled Cheese à la French Onion Soup

I made some French onion soup for Christmas, and I still had a hankering for more. I didn't want to get into the whole soup-making thing again though, so I thought of this way of getting many of those delightful onion soupy flavours. It's still awfully time-consuming to cook the onions so not something I would go to the trouble for if I wanted just a single slice. Although I would think you could prepare the onion topping in advance and keep it in the fridge, toasting up slices of bread as you wanted them, for up to a week.

The cheese you use should be whatever you think most appropriate for French onion soup. Usually that will be a Gruyère or Emmentaler. If I had Gouda I would try it, but Mozzerella is too mild, I would think. I might try Friulano (Montasio) but it's not the usual. (I actually have some in the fridge at the moment, so I probably will try it... especially since this recipe was greatly approved.)

Note this recipe is per slice; multiply it by the number of slices you wish to make. Mind you, my slices of bread were pretty large and you could probably stretch this amount of topping out over 2 smaller slices.

per slice
1 hour - 20 minutes prep time

1 small onion AND 1 small shallot
OR 1 medium onion
1 small clove of garlic
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
50 grams (2 ounces) melty cheese - Gruyere, Emmentaler, etc
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
OR 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a pinch of rubbed savory or thyme
1 large slice good sturdy sandwich bread

Peel the onions (and shallots). Cut them in half lengthwise, then lay them flat and cut them into thin slices across the width. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the butter in a skillet of the appropriate size over medium heat. Cook the onions in it until they are very soft and slightly browned; about 40 minutes. In between times is a good time to slice the cheese.

About 5 minutes before they are done start toasting the bread under the broiler until it is lightly toasted on both sides.

Add the garlic and balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce, and the savory or thyme, to the pan of onions and cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes more.

Pile two-thirds of the onions onto the pieces of toast, evenly divided, and spread them out to cover the toast. Top with the slices of cheese, and spread the remaining onion mixture over the top of the cheese. Return the toast slices to the broiler, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly.




Last year at this time I made Kasha with Potatoes, Mushrooms, & Cabbage.

Posted in: Ontario Food