Name: Onion soup with cheese & herb toasts
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 25g butter; 1 tbsp olive oil; 6 onions thinly sliced; 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced; 2 tbsp flour; 300ml darkish beer nothing too bitter; 1.3l beef stock; splash Worcestershire sauce; 1 baguette cut into 12-18 thin slices; 175g mature cheddar Stilton or Lincolnshire Poacher, grated; small bunch chives snipped; ½ small bunch parsley finely chopped

25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
6 onions
thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
thinly sliced
2 tbsp flour
300ml darkish beer
nothing too bitter
1.3l beef stock
splash Worcestershire sauce

For the toasts

1 baguette
cut into 12-18 thin slices
175g mature cheddar
Stilton or Lincolnshire Poacher, grated
small bunch chives
snipped
½ small bunch parsley
finely chopped

Method

step 1
Heat the butter and oil in a large pan and gently cook the onion and garlic until very soft and golden. Increase heat slightly and cook until brown – about 20-40 mins in total.
step 2
Stir in the flour for 2 mins, then stir in the beer and bring to a simmer for a few mins. Add the stock, bring back to a simmer, then season with salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Keep warm.
step 3
Heat the grill and toast the bread on both sides. Meanwhile, mix the grated cheese with the herbs. Sprinkle a little on each slice and grill to melt. Ladle soup into bowls and float toasts on top.