French Onion Soup with Cheesy Croutons

*This soup isn’t blended at the end so slice the onions as thinly as you are likely to want to eat.

Onion Soup

1. Slice the onions thinly and put them into a large pot or casserole dish (capable of going into the oven under the grill),  with the crushed garlic and butter.
   
2. Cook them gently over a low heat, stirring from time to time, until they are soft and lightly brown.  This will take about 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on the pot to make sure the onion doesn’t burn.
   
   
3. Season the onions with a little pepper (if you are using a stock cube for the beef stock it may be quite salty so check for salt after adding the stock) and stir in the flour.  Add the sugar, red wine and stock.
   
4. Simmer, covered for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring now and again then add the sherry and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
   

Meanwhile, make the cheese croutons.

Cheese Croutons

1. Slice the baguette into 2cm slices.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave and add the crushed garlic.
3. Brush both sides of the bread slices with the garlic butter.
4. Place the slices under the grill and grill one side of them.  When the soup is ready, place the slices on top of the soup, grilled side down.
5. Sprinkle the cheeses over the untoasted side of the bread slices and transfer the dish under a hot grill to brown the bread and melt the cheese.

You can serve this directly from the dish.