Soup of the Day: French Red Onion Soup

We went looking for the very best Valentine's Day soup, and here you have it. A classic: French onion soup. Why? Well, we think that French onion soup may just be the sexiest soup we know.

Once you get over the inherent silliness of calling such a prosaic thing as soup sexy, doesn't French onion soup seem to fit the bill? It's warm and silky, and it fills the house with the irresistable fragrance of caramelizing onions. It's filling but not too heavy, and it's the very picture of warmth, security, and comfort. That's sexy!

It's also a lovely dish for those of us dining solo on Valentine's; we love cozying up with a good bowl of onion soup and a book.

Are you serving soup for Valentine's?

• Get the recipe: French Red Onion Soup at Gourmet

Have a great soup recipe? Email us here if you have a recipe and photo to share. We may make it one of our Soups of the Day this month!

Previous Soup of the Day: Chicken Soup, Four Ways

(Image: Romulo Yanes for Gourmet)

Comments (6)

mmmm....caramelized onions. But I think your link is broken, at least it didn't work for me.

posted by kittyball on February 13th 2009 at 5:22pm
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Whoops! Fixed now. Thanks, kittyball.

posted by faith on February 13th 2009 at 6:51pm
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Sweet Mother this is delicious. I just whipped up half a batch in a matter if minutes and that star anise really takes it to another level. Wish I had bread and cheese in the house to really do it right.
Yum.

posted by deirdre on February 13th 2009 at 9:10pm
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Those onions look incredible. This soup is infinitely sexy, with the earthy flavor of beef broth mixed with the subtle sweet crunch of onion and bread... Ah, I can't even begin to tell you just how happy "Soup Month" makes me.

Actually, it helped inspire a little friendly competition: a friend and I are having a Soup-Off. Throw-down style, best soup wins (bragging rights, mainly). We've started hyping it up here: www.recipekey.com/becca! Definitely something to help stave off the winter cold in the Northeast...

posted by beccacait on February 14th 2009 at 12:19am
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Of course, for those of us with pissy digestive tracts, the incredible gas resulting from eating French onion soup is very un-sexy. Not that it isn't delicious, but having to sleep on the couch doesn't make for a good Valentine's Day.

posted by Teacher A on February 15th 2009 at 9:49pm
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I love french onion soup and find it one of the easiest recipes. Which is not to say that I'm always on the prowl for different ways to adapt it.

I've tried the gourmet version with star anise and loved it and just recently attempted the america's test kitchen version. Total disaster. I was intrigued by roasting the onions in the oven instead of standing over the range caramelizing them, but I ended up with a pot of burnt bits. Maybe my oven runs too hot, or maybe two and a half hours in a 400 degree oven were bad instructions. A good idea that definitely needs tweaking.

posted by juni on February 15th 2009 at 11:10pm
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