Vegan Onion Soup

So what one can do with a kilo of onions? A LOT! But this time, after we enjoyed the Onion Quiche, it's the onion soup's turn.

Each time, when I come back home carrying a few bags full with onions, the whole house is filled with excitement and anticipation. What will become next out of those huge white pearls of nature? Of course there is the inevitable, if it's a few onions for salads, another few for all sorts of pickles and naturally the perfect combination of onion and garlic in almost every cooked dish. But there are also those dishes that revolve almost entirely around the onion and its unique taste.    

The truth is, that instead of thinking about the onion soup as an elite soup created in the expensive French kitchen, and that a good version of it one can find only in  fancy restaurants, I rather think of it as something very simple, rustic, farm like and poor. You sauté some onions, add a bit flour to make it thicker, some alcohol, some yesterday dry bread and enjoy the fragrances and tastes.

There are two challenges in making this soup. The first is the peeling and the cutting of the onions and the second is the waiting time and the fairly big amount of patience one needs to get a nice rich result.

I assume that many tricks and technics are available in the internet for avoiding, or at least reducing the amount of tears and the burning sensation in the eyes but also here I prefer the simple and more efficient way. I simply wear swimming goggles.  

About the waiting and the patience, I assure you that if you will really control yourselves and allow the full caramelization of the onions you will get the time you invested ten times fold, because this soup, when made with dedication, will add easily a few years to your life.      

The ingredients :

A kilo of onions

2 spoons of Coconut oil

Fresh thyme

One spoon of whole grain flour

Dry white wine

Vegetable stock

Sea salt

Pepper

All in all the making of this soup is quite easy. Just the first stage of caramelizing the onions takes a bit time. It's also better to prepare the soup a few hours in advance, maybe even a whole day, so the tastes can develop and intensify.

Melt the two spoons of coconut oil in a big pot, cut the onions into rings and add them to the coconut oil. At first on high heat and stir every few minutes, and after the onions soften a bit, reduce the heat to medium and let the onions caramelize.

It's very important to keep stirring every few minutes so the onions will not burn and give a bitter unwelcome taste to the soup. The goal is to get a brown and not so sexy paste. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour, and sometimes even more, but don't give up!

Afterwards toast the flour in a hot pan for a few minutes, it will release the nutty flavor of the flour and eventually will give a very interesting taste to the soup. After a few minutes add the toasted flour to the onions and stir.

Add the wine, about two glasses (and another one for the cook) and stir. Add some fresh thyme and this is the moment to close your eyes and inhale the beautiful mouthwatering fragrant of the soup.    

After a few minutes add slowly the vegetable stock (also water is fine) until you get the texture you like. I prefer it very thick, but then I get of course less soup.

Add some salt and pepper and turn the heat off.

Like I said, it's better to let the soup rest for a few hours before you serve it.

If you can get your hands on a nice round sourdough bread, it's really amazing to serve the soup inside it with a bit grated vegan cheese on top or you can make garlic bread very easily. Just brush some bread with oil, add some chopped garlic and bake in high heat for a few minutes. Enjoy!