One-Pot French Onion Soup

My friend, dressed to the nines, wondered aloud as the strings of cheese and onion broth sloshed onto her scarf, “How do people eat this when they’re wearing nice clothes?”

That didn’t stop either of us from devouring the stuff down to the last spoonful.

But it did make me wonder why I never make French onion soup at home. There, without the self-consciousness I felt at the restaurant, I could tuck a big napkin into my collar and slurp to my heart’s content.

I don’t make onion soup at home partly because I lack the flameproof bowls that chefs run under the broiler to melt the cheese. And what’s the point of making onion soup without the elastic cap of gooey Gruyère?

The more I pondered this, the more I wondered if I could skip those individual bowls, layer the croutons and cheese directly into the soup pot, and just broil the whole thing.

It was worth a try.

First, though, I asked Philippe Bertineau, the chef at Benoit, for his stunning recipe. The key to the depth of flavor, he told me, is homemade beef broth. He makes his with oxtails, which add the richness of marrow to the sweetness of the slowly caramelized onions.

So I tried his recipe with my broil-in-the-pot tweak, taking his quantities down so the soup would serve eight. I could have reduced the quantities further, but this is the kind of festive dish you’d want to serve to friends. (For a smaller group, remove half the soup from the pot, then layer on half the cheese and croutons before broiling).

Melting the cheese in the pot took a little longer than it would have in individual bowls, but it bubbled up just as gorgeously golden.

The only problem with this method was serving it. The Gruyère melted into a solid blanket that defied my ladle. But a few snips with a pair of kitchen shears created a patchwork of cheesy croutons that were easy to scoop up, even if the bowls of soup weren’t as beautiful as the cheese-draped crocks.

Then we all dug in, some of us with napkin bibs and some without. But it didn’t matter if we splattered. We were at home, among friends.

Soup recipes with Bill & Sheila

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