Berbere Onion Soup

This is a North African version of French onion soup – enhanced with our fragrant spice blend Berbere, and given a hit of umami with porcini powder. You can vary the depth of flavor depending on the stock you use – beef at the richer end of the scale, and vegetable for a lighter soup.

Ingredients

• brown onions  ·  6 
• butter  ·  2 ounces 
• garlic cloves, crushed  ·  3 
• Herbie’s Berbere Spice Mix  ·  1 tablespoon 
• Herbie’s Porcini Powder  ·  1 teaspoon 
• brown sugar  ·  1 teaspoon 
• salt  ·  1 teaspoon 
• beef, chicken or vegetable stock  ·  1 quart 
• baguette, sliced  ·  1 
• grated gruyere cheese  ·  4 ounces 

Instructions

Peel onions and slice finely while whole (a mandolin is great for this job).

Melt butter in a heavy based saucepan then add onions. Cover with greaseproof paper and lid and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes – 1 hour until very soft; there should be very little resistance when pressing a strand between your fingers.

Add garlic, Berbere, porcini, salt and sugar and cook for a further 10 minutes with the lid removed, stirring a few times.

Pour in stock of choice and simmer for a final 10 minutes.

Heat a grill to high. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a slice of baguette (or two) and plenty of grated gruyere. Place bowls under the grill to melt cheese, then carefully remove to a plate to serve. Alternatively, grill cheese on baguette separately and serve on top of soup or on the side.

Top with a grind of black pepper and serve immediately with Rapture Pinot Noir..