Italian Onion Soup

Submitted by bluemoon downunder

"Adapted from Huey's recipe of the same name for the 2005 Zaar World Tour. Huey (Iain Hewitson) is a well-known Australian chef who has written several books, runs a popular Melbourne restaurant, and appears twice daily in his TV cooking show. This recipe is from his website."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed plus
• 6 additional garlic cloves, to be used later
• 2 leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced
• 1 kg yellow onions (Americans) or 1 kg brown onion (Australians)
• 2 (400 ml) cans tomatoes, drained and diced
• 6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable)
• 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (flat leaf)
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 -3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• butter (optional)
• 3 slices day-old sourdough bread, cubed, to form croutons
• pecorino cheese, grated

directions

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pot and sauté the garlic, leek and onions for about 30 minutes until golden brown, regularly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot, turning down the heat after about 10 minutes. (You may need more oil if you are not using a non-stick pot).
2. Add the tomatoes, stock, parsley, seasonings and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and bring to the boil. Then simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. While the soup is cooking, heat a little oil, butter and the remaining 6 cloves of garlic in a heavy-bottomed pan (that can go into the oven).
5. Add a couple of handfuls of the day-old bread, cubed and toss until well coated. Then cook in the oven until golden.
6. Transfer the croutons to a bowl and toss with a good handful of pecorino whilst still hot.
7. To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls and top with the croutons and an extra sprinkling of cheese.

Reviews

[Baby Kato]

What a great soup bluemoon. A hearty meal in one. We loved the flavor of the soup and wouldn't change a thing. Love the combo of onion, leeks, garlic & tomato. A nice robust and hearty soup, very filling and extremely satisfying. Comfort food at its best. The croutons & pecorino add a lovely dimesion of flavor. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.

 

[Vicki in CT]

This soup was quite good. It was a little one diminsional as the overwhelming flavor is definitely onion. But being an onion lover, that suited me just fine. I never had leeks before, and found I really enjoyed them. I didn't make the crutons, but the soup is good on all its own. So I'm sure the calorie/fat count is much less without the butter and bread. One reviewer called this hearty...I disagree as I found it a great light soup. For 123.

 

[Peter J]

Mmmmm, loved this soup! A really strong and hearty soup and a must try for onion and garlic lovers. Only change I made was I didn't have pecorino so used some parmesan instead. I didn't have a non-stick pot large enough so went with a little extra olive oil and didn't have any problems at all with sticking.

 

[Meghan O]

This was too onion-y for me, but I would try again with a greater variety of vegetables.

 

[evelynathens]

Wow! This had such great flavour! Not for the feint of heart. The garlic, leeks and onion really pack a punch. This is a great soup and I hope many out there try it. A really good recipe.