White Onion and Parmesan Soup

Last year there was a lot of talk of a white onion and parmesan soup on Twitter. I think it started from a dish in Avoca. The descriptions of the velvety rich soup had me drooling on my laptop!

However, I could not get my hands on white onions. I was tempted to try with ordinary onions but the white onions have a more subtle flavour. So I held out until I finally found them stocked in The English Market. Then I tried all sort of recipes until I came up with the combination below and to me this is perfect. It is very rich so you don’t need a big bowl, and I assure you it will not disappoint. I like to serve it with this delicious brown bread with loads of real butter.

Another serving suggestion, if you are having a dinner party you could serve it in shot glasses as a little taster dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium white onions finely sliced (approx. 500g)
• 1 clove of garlic finely sliced
• Few sprigs of thyme
• 400ml hot chicken stock
• 200ml milk
• 125ml double cream
• 80g freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Place a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat and add the oil and butter.
• Once the butter is melted, add the onion, garlic, thyme and 1/4 tsp of salt. Go easy with the salt as the parmesan will be salty. I tie the stalks of thyme together because it is easier to fish them out afterwards.
• Cook gently over low-medium heat until the onions are all softened. You don’t want them to brown or caramalise at all. This will take about 10-15 minutes, depending on how finely sliced the onions are.
• Add the grated parmesan, the stock and the rind of the parmesan. The rind will add great flavour. Simmer for 10 mins.
• Add the milk and cream and simmer for another 10 mins.
• Remove the parmesan rind and the stalks of thyme.
• Blitz the soup in a blender or with a hand blender. Taste and season if needed with salt and pepper. Serve with a little truffle oil or chopped chives.

See another recipe for White Onion soup here on Thyme on Your Hands.

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