Imagine the scenario. You are starving, but you are in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t a shop for 100 miles? Fear not, if you have packed your essentials, you have got onions. For me the onion is a symbol of opportunity, if you have at least one, you are on your way to a great meal.

Rich, warming and filling and quite fancy actually, but with very little effort.

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The day we got snowed in in Maine was of course the day we had set aside to go and get the food shop.

By 10am there was a good 2 inches of the white stuff and by noon visibility was nil and the windscreen was 5 inches deep. The snow plow had handily been by at around 10.30 and the route he had made had of course vanished almost instantly.

After a vigorous decision to strip naked and run outside in the name of making every day a memorable one, we had decided to spend the rest of the day warm and dry in the van.

Of course the cupboard wasn’t entirely bare…far from it in fact. A bowl of bananas and custard called my name and a few mushrooms reminded me of their existence as I gazed into the fridge, but nothing gives me a burst of inspiration like an onion. A bowl of golden skinned beauties sat on the work top and I decided to try my hand at the French classic, onion soup.

The original recipe can call for all kinds of trickery but it can be made incredibly easily and still taste AMAZING.

Recipe

To serve 2.

2 onions

2 tsp sugar, I use brown granulated for everything, if using white reduce by half.

Cooking oil – coconut, sunflower your call.

Optional knob of butter

1 beef stock cube – Oxo are my fave. You can switch this for a veg stock for a lighter, vegetarian soup. Add a small dollop of marmite for colour if it looks a bit pasty.

1 tbsp flour

1 bay leaf

1 rosemary stick (without leaves) or a dusting of ground sage

S&P

2 slices of bread

Cheese – I used sharp cheddar as it was what I had. Alternatively Gruyere, Parmesan, even a goats cheese is fine for this.

Directions

1. Slice onions and toss in oil in a frying pan. Sprinkle with salt and add knob of butter if using. Softly fry with a lid on for around 20 minutes, until all onions are cooked and beginning to caramalise.

2. As your onions cook boil a pan of water, around 5 cups. To this add stock cube, bay leaf and herb. The herb should be incredibly mild so dont go over board here. If you have a splash of white wine handy throw in around half a glass and leave the lid off for the alcohol to bubble off.

3. Remove lid from the onions, sprinkle on sugar and turn up the heat to brown the onions.

4. Sprinkle your flour over the onions and stir, keep the onions moving and let the flour turn pasty around them. Keep them moving for a couple minutes and then pour on a cup of your hot stock. Stir the liquid into the onions and it should form a thick paste, keep adding stock one cup at a time, stirring to make sure there are no lumps of flour. This should be easy as the onions give the flour grip and then they help reduce lumps as your ‘sauce’ thickens. Once you are happy that all the flour is stirred in add the rest of the stock. Stir well and pour from frying pan, into stock pan. Remove the bay and rosemary and get anything that has stuck to the sides or bottom of the pan into your soup.

4. Let the soup simmer as you prepare the toasts in your washed frying pan. Grate your cheese, enough to cover two toasts. I like to cut my bread into pretty shapes as it is the star attraction in this soup. So cut your bread and drizzle a TINY bit of oil on each side…or butter it thinly. Heat up your frying pan and pop them in. Keep checking til one side is brown and flip them. Cover the toasted side with cheese and pop a lid on the frying pan. The cheese should melt as the other side toasts.

5. Check soup for seasoning, it probably needs another sprinkle of salt, and dish into bowls. Once the cheese has melted on your toasts pop them on top of the soup and sprinkle with cracked black pepper.

Such a simple soup but so damned tasty. A great one to stick in a flask and take on a walk too. The sweetness of the onions seems to give me a real energy boost and it is great with a plain old cheese sandwich dipped in.

If you are having this soup as a meal, it is filling enough; you have some great wine options to pair it with. My first choice would be a Viognier or a Beaujolais but would highly recommend a Pinot Gris too, even a Pinot Noir!

Enjoy!