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Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Soup

A rich onion soup deepened with mushrooms, white wine and herbs, finished with cream and broiled under bread and melted Gruyère. It eats like classic French onion soup with more body.

5 servings · 60 min · soup · French · vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoon salted butter
  • 4 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1¼ cup dry white wine
  • 3 clove garlic, minced or grated
  • 2 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 6–8 cup low sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoon soy sauce (or a vegetarian/anchovy-free Worcestershire sauce), plus 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar for tang, optional
  • 2 bay leaf
  • kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 6 slice french bread
  • 2 cup Gruyère cheese, shredded

Method

  1. Melt together the butter, onions, and honey in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook, [text cut off at right edge] stirring occasionally until softened, about 10 minutes. At this point, you want to slowly add 3/4 cup [of] the wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the wine cooks into the onions. Continue to cook another 10-15 m[inutes] until you've used the 3/4 cup of wine and the onions are deeply caramelized.
  2. Add the garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and sage. Season with salt and pepper, cook another 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine, the broth, soy sauce (plus the balsamic, if using), bay leaves, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high and return the soup to a simmer, simmer 10 minutes, stir in the cream and cook another 5-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Season to taste with salt and pepper — soy sauce is saltier than Worcestershire, so taste before adding more salt.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet and toast [10-]15 minutes, until very dry. Switch the oven to broil.
  4. Ladle the soup into oven safe bowls. Add a slice of bread to each, and top evenly with cheese. [Place] each soup bowl on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven, broil until bubbly and golden brown, [2-3] minutes. Top with fresh thyme. Eat!

Notes

Soy sauce stands in for the anchovy-based Worcestershire; it's saltier, so hold back on salt until you taste at the end, and use vegetable broth and a rennet-free Gruyère-style cheese if you're being strict.