Whenever I eat a dish I love at a restaurant, I love the challenge of trying to make it home. There’s a local restaurant near us that has this amazing red wine onion soup. This soup is so good that someone I know who used to be a french onion soup hater orders it every time we go to this place. So naturally I needed to try to replicate it. I got close to the real deal.
I originally posted this in 2017. I’ve since updated the recipe (update posted January 30, 2019). While the original was good, I like to update recipes from time to time and improve them. The revised version has more beef stock and red wine than the original.
I used a cheap bottle of cabernet sauvignon for this, but pretty much any red wine will do. For slicing onions, I always use this method that Anne Burrell demonstrated on season 1 of Worst Cooks in America. Nice, even pieces every time, and it’s easy!
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Red Wine Onion Soup
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients
- 1 Vidalia onion sliced thin
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- ½ tsp thyme
- ½ tsp sage
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bottle red wine
- 8 cups beef stock
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- Asiago cheese sliced
- Gruyere cheese sliced
- Stale baguette sliced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat (tip: preheat the pot on the stove before adding the butter).
- Add onions, garlic, oregano, thyme, and sage.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent and begin to caramelize.
- Add ½ cup of the red wine, stir, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer until the wine has evaporated (onions should be red and dry-ish).
- Add the flour and stir the onions to coat. Cook on low for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the beef stock, apple juice, Worcestershire, bay leaves, and the remaining wine.
- Stir to make sure all of the flour is off of the bottom of the pot so it doesn’t burn.
- Bring soup to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer. Skim the froth from the top and discard. This is a good time to taste the soup and add some salt if needed.
- Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat the broiler.
- Fill soup crocks (I used Le Creuset mini cocottes) with stale baguette slices, about halfway. Ladle soup into the crocks. Top each with asiago and gruyere slices. Place onto a baking sheet and broil until the cheese is melted and golden. (And caution – the soup will be extremely hot!)
