French Onion Soup

I have to confess to being a very impatient cook. I like things to be fast and furious in the kitchen. Bish bash bosh, a 3 course meal for 6 on the table in under an hour.

BUT and it's a big but, when it comes to making French onion soup, you have to slow yourself right down and take your time. First, there's the mountain of onions you have to peel and thinly slice, then there is the 45 minutes it takes to slowly cook and brown them in butter and olive oil. It is quite frankly a dish of love, because you cannot leave it to its own devices. You have to be there the whole time, giving it maximum attention and slavishly hovering with a wooden spoon in your hand to make sure your onions do not burn, but it's worth every single mouthful.

Ingredients:

45g (1.5oz) of unsalted butter (or coconut oil)

Olive oil 4 large onions, halved and thinlv sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

30g (1 oz) of plain flour (or 2 tbsp of arrowroot powder)

750ml (1.5 pints) of vegetable stock

2 tbsp of white wine

A dash of cognac

4 large slices of baguette, toasted (or gf alternative)

A cup of gruyere cheese, grated (or plant based cheese such as Moo moo piquant by Vegusto (vegusto.co.uk)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp of black pepper, coarsely ground

Preparing and assembling your ingredients:

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add a little bit of olive oil.

Add the onions and wilt over a low heat for 15 minutes: Do not leave!

Stir every few minutes or so and do not let them burn. The idea is to soften them, slowly browning your onions.

2. After 15 minutes, turn up the heat a little, sprinkle on the salt, mix and continue to cook uncovered until caramelized (approximately 30 minutes).

3. Sprinkle in the flour (or arrowroot powder) and cook for a further 3 minutes and keep moving in the pan. Add the pepper and stock. Stir and simmer on a medium heat for about 15 minutes. It will thicken and smells fantastic at this stage. Add the rest of the stock and the cognac. Cook for another 30-40 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Use oven-proof bowls. Fill with soup, top with a slice of the bread and sprinkle with grated gruyere. Bake until the cheese melts and is bubbly and golden brown.

Careful when you remove from the oven as it‘s very hot. Let it cool a little and serve with pride.

Volia! French onion soup!