Parisian Onion Soup

1000 Pageviews in 1 week! Thank you to whoever is reading! To celebrate this monumental occasion, I thought I'd give you guys a recipe that I'm obsessed with at the moment. It's inspired by a French Onion soup I had on a trip to Paris this time last year, in Cafe Hugo - a gorgeous little restaurant in Place des Vosges. If you find yourself in Paris with no idea where to go, go there. It's uber romantic and very reasonably priced. I haven't got the recipe from anywhere special, I just thought I'd have a go one night and it turned out rather well. So, with no further ado, here is a little something for those cold Sunday nights - I hope you enjoy it; please send your compliments to the chef.


You will need:

5 or 6 Onions, depending on how 'oniony' you like your soup. I like mine very oniony.
Garlic. Similarly, it depends on how much you like garlic. I heart garlic, so I use half a bulb.
Red Wine. You will be drinking nearly all of this bottle yourself. 
Beef Stock. Doesn't matter whether it's cubes, stockpots, a fancy-ass one you've made yourself...it's all good.
Worcester Sauce.
Balsamic Vinegar.
Oil.
Gruyere Cheese. Although I have used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella in the past and it was ah-mazing
Thyme. Fresh or dried, whatever your preference.
Parsley. Optional, for decoration/sprinkling.
Salt & Pepper.


You will also need:

A big pot/wok/saucepan.

A knife.

A chopping board.

A garlic crusher.

A grater.

A wooden spoon.

A ladle.

What do I do?

1. First up, pour yourself a big glass of wine. Getting drunk is half the fun.

2. Chop those onions and cry about your ex-boyfriend - no one's gonna know those tears are real.

3. Crush some garlic.

4. Put the onion and the garlic into a cold pot/pan/whatever you're using with some oil, salt & pepper. Turn the heat onto medium/low. You don't want the onions to brown. Keep them pale and interesting, like this:

5. In about 10-15 minutes, or after another large glass of wine, your onions should be pretty soft and nearly see-through. Now is the time to add your thyme (see what I did there). 

6. Stir this around with a wooden spoon so the onions get all thyme-y.

7. Add your stock!

8. Add the wine! (Not too much, because you want to save some for the meal.)

9. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and Worcester sauce.

10. Relax and play some music for however long you want. The soup isn't going anywhere.

11. After about half an hour, or when you've finished dancing, you are good to go. Turn on your grill oven and get some bowls out.

12. Spoon the liquid love into a bowl - preferably a big one - and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place this under the grill.

13. Have another dance.

14. When the cheese is going golden, take it out. Be careful though, because by this point you're probably pretty drunk.

15. Place some parsley on the top, or simply dig straight in - all that dancing has made you pretty hungry.

What it should look like

Instagram makes everything look better

Bon Appétit!

Love,

Belle xx