Hearty Onion Soup

This is a wonderful, easy to make onion soup.  After the first time I made it, I bought large rolls to use as soup bowls. It's great for a chilly day!

What you need for 4 medium bread bowls or 3 large ones.
50 g flour
4 onions, sliced thinly for the soup
2 onions to saute and put on top
bratbutter (I use regular butter when I don't have any)
2 large rolls/small round loaves of bread
1 liter vegetable bouillon (2 cubes)
shredded Gruyere cheese (slicing some works fine as well)

1. Heat the flour in a pan (I've found a wok works great when making this. If you half it, a saucepan should be fine.

2. Take flour off stove and coat the sliced onions (use more or less onions depending on how well you like onions).
3. Put the about 25g of bratbutter in the pan and then toss the floured onions to coat.
4. Add the vegetable bouillon (Since I use the cubes with water I put it in a pot to boil and can then add the boiling water to the onions). If bouillon is cold, bring mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. While the broth is simmering, if using the bread bowls, slice the tops off.  Pull the bread out, leaving at least 1/2 an inch of bread on the inside (1/4 of an inch for smaller rolls). Using a brush (or your fingers if you don't have one) spread some olive oil on the inside bottom and outside bottom of the bread. Put on a baking sheet and cook at 180 for 10-15 minutes.  I put it in the oven cold when I get the broth boiling and take it out when it is done and it is always perfect.

 6. Slice the other 2 onions finely. Put a small frying pan on the stove with some butter. When hot and butter is melted, saute the onions until they are crisp. This does not take long, so only do it a few minutes before the soup is ready.

Tonight I made a salad to go along with the soup, so I also cut up some of the bread tops to put on top of the salad.  For the salad, I used mixed greens, some roast onion (from the spice section) and shredded Gruyere.

After placing the soup in the (bread) bowl, add the sauteed onions and some sliced (or shredded) Gruyere. Add a grilled sliced piece of the bread bowl as well for some added interest. En guete!