November 3: Triple-Onion Soup with Triple-Cheese Toast

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 softball size firm yellow onions, sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 leeks, trimmed, cut into half-moons, then washed and drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
   Salt and white pepper
1 cup white wine
6 cups beef stock or broth
8 1-inch-thick pieces of crusty bread
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese

Heat a medium soup pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, then the butter. Slice and drop the onions, shallots, and leeks into the pot as you work. Add the thyme, salt, and white pepper.

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the yellow onions are soft, lightly golden all over, and sweet. Add the wine and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.

Preheat the broiler.

Char the bread under the broiler on each side. Mix the grated cheese and cover the bread with the cheese. Return to the broiler and melt.

Serve shallow bowls of soup with a gooey, cheesy floater on top and a second piece of cheese toast alongside, for the second half of the bowl.

4 SERVINGS

This soup was very weird. I don't think I'd ever make it again. There were just too many onions, and the broth didn't taste very flavorful. The onions were not cooked right either. The toast was good, but I used some nutty kind of bread (harvest grain, I think), and it would have been better with just white bread. I used Swiss instead of Gruyere (it's much cheaper). The toast was better out of the soup.