Onion soup with Pyrenees cheese (gratinée à la tomme des Pyrénées)

In the Pyrenees mountains, they love to make this traditional, hearty soup using the local onions and superb cheese, made with both goat's and sheep's milk. The sherry – Spanish, of course – in this recipe adds a beautiful flavour.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 large brown onions
• 30 g butter
• 1.5 litres strong chicken stock, approximately
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 x 1 cm slices baguette
• 50 ml Xeres Spanish sherry
• 1 egg yolk
• 120 g tomme des Pyrénées (Pyrenees cheese), grated

Instructions

Peel, halve and finely slice onions. Heat butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook onion for about 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and transparent.

Add stock and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Increase heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast baguette under a hot grill.

Whisk to combine the sherry and egg yolk.

Remove soup from the heat. Add sherry and egg mixture to soup, and stir to combine.

Ladle soup into four ovenproof bowls. Top each with 2 pieces of toasted baguette and scatter with cheese. Place under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Take care when serving, as the soup will be very hot.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Sarah O’Brien. Food preparation by Alice Storey.

Props by Hayden Youlley Design.

In-video photography by Peter Warren.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.