Italian Onion Soup With Fontina And Thyme

by Giada

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

35 minutes

Serves

4

Beginner

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Newman

Italian Onion Soup With Fontina And Thyme

Name: Italian Onion Soup With Fontina And Thyme
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American French Italian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 large Vidalia onions (sliced); 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves; 4 cups beef broth; 4 slices ciabatta bread (cubed); 4 ounces sliced fontina cheese; Special equipment: 4 (1 1/2-cup ovenproof ramekins)

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I absolutely love French Onion Soup, and this is sort of my Italian spin on it. What I love about this dish is it really is so simple, and just a few key ingredients shine - it's a great example that good food doesn't need to be complicated. This "Italian" Onion Soup uses Fontina cheese instead of the traditional Gruyere. Fontina is so buttery and nutty, and it just melts beautifully onto the cubes of ciabatta bread - which, by the way, I find a lot easier to eat than thick slices of bread that you'll usually find on classic French Onion Soup!

If time allows, you could go the long route and take the time to caramelize onions for 45 minutes to an hour, but I find that it still tastes rich and delicious with only 10-20 minutes of sauteeing on the stovetop. It makes this dish so much more doable for a weeknight when you don't have tons of time to spare. My secret is that I use sweet onions, such as Vidalia, because they have a lot more sugar and caramelize faster - you don't even need to cook them down that much to get a great, sweet flavor.

Italian Onion Soup