Thank you to Baker’s for sponsoring today’s National Cheese Lover’s Day recipe, Onion Soup with Gruyère Cheese. The perfect cheesy comfort food.
With the freezing temperatures outside I haven’t wanted to leave the comfort of my warm snuggly blankets in front of the fireplace. Unfortunately my kids are expecting me to cook some meals for them so that means I have we have to get out of the house. Obviously my menu plan will be including several warm comfort food dishes.
It’s National Cheese Lover’s Month later this month which is perfect timing for my comfort food menu. It means I get to create some of my favorites for the kids, such as using muenster cheese for grilled cheese because it’s the gooiest. Mac and cheese with gouda and cheddar is another family favorite.
A recipe I’ve been craving lately is my onion soup. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it has toasted ciabatta bread and melty gruyère cheese on top.
My recipe is sort of a mix between French onion soup and Italian or Tuscan onion soup. They are similar, but do have some differences. I take a little bit from both traditional soups to create my own.
I use chicken broth for my recipe, and that is traditional for Tuscan onion soup, while French onion usually uses beef broth. Both have toasted bread, however French onion places it on top like I do, however Tuscan places the bread on the bottom of the bowl before the soup is ladled in. Finally, the cheese. Honestly, I have no idea what the traditional cheese is for Tuscan onion soup, however French onion traditionally uses Gruyère cheese so I guess that’s the direction I went with it.
Baker’s has a fantastic selection of cheese so it’s a great place to gain some inspiration for just about any cheesy comfort dish you want to create to celebrate National Cheese Lover’s Day. This is just a small portion of what they have to offer.
The other thing I love about Baker’s is their non-food selection. If I need to pick up something small I need to create the recipe, I can usually find it at Baker’s too. For this onion soup recipe I found those fantastic green, oven safe crocks. They are perfect for broiling, which makes them perfect for melting the cheese on top of the onion soup.
Now I’m really getting hungry for this soup!
Onion Soup with Gruyère Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pancetta diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 large vidalia onions sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Sliced ciabatta bread
- Gruyère cheese shredded
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fry pancetta in a large pan for about 5 minutes on medium heat until browned. Remove pancetta from pan and set aside.
- Heat oil in the pan and cook the onions and garlic on medium high heat for about 3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and start to caramelize.
- Add the broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add pancetta and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- While the soup simmers, toast slices of ciabatta on both sides.
- Pour soup into individual oven safe bowls, top with toasted ciabatta and cheese. Broil until cheese is melted approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
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