Recipe of the Month - March

Rosemary growing in the Walled Garden.

We are going to be featuring a recipe every month on the Volunteer Portal, the recipes will reflect the seasonal produce in the Palace's Walled Garden.

French Onion Soup

The kitchen garden is a hive of activity but there isn't much to pick at the moment. This year's onion sets have been planted in the garden and so in anticipation, for March we are going to celebrate the onion. One of the edible things that lasts throughout the winter are herbs and so this soup and its accompanying toasts make great use of winter herbs.

Traditional French Onion Soup recipes often include beef stock but this recipe is vegetarian. In order to get a good depth of flavour without using beef stock you need to cook the onions for a long time. You will need a lot of onions and to save your tears it is a good idea to use a food processor to chop them finely.

Traditional French Onion Soup

INGREDIENTS

2kg large onions, finely chopped

100g butter

1/2 teaspoon table salt, plus more as needed

1.5 litres of water, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon flour

1 sprig fresh thyme

150 ml dry white wine

1 baguette (bit stale is good)

150g Gruyere Cheese

Handful of rosemary, finely chopped

Hutter for greasing

METHOD

1. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan.
2. Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir to coat evenly in the butter.
3. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Take the cover off, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly browned and caramelised (this takes a long time - up to 90 minutes), This step can be done ahead of time, caramalised onions will freeze well.
5. Once caramelised add the flour and cook for two minutes.
6. Add the wine and a ladleful of water and cook for another 5 minutes before adding the rest of the water and the thyme.
7. Continue to cook until the onions are an even dark brown colour, the soup should be dark and richly flavoured, another 20-30 minutes. Season to taste.
8. While the soup is bubbling gently, heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4, slice the baguette into thick slices, smear a baking dish with butter, lay the slices flat in the dish and sprinkle with the cheese and chopped rosemary. Cook for about 15 minutes until golden and bubbling.
9. The cheese toasts can be served on the side or you can put them on top of the soup in the traditional way.  To serve the toasts on top let them cool a little. Pour the soup into an oven-proof dish, the soup should almost fill it. Add the slightly cooled toasts and put in a very hot oven 220C/425F/Gas7 for 10 minutes or so until it is very hot and bubbly.