French onion soup with croûte au Camembert

I know its the middle of summer but a few days ago I woke up to a cold and rainy morning in the mountains. With a fridge full of onions and Camembert I came to the following conclusion …

French onion soup with croûte au Camembert
Soup for four

Large heavy bottom pan, Le Creuset or similar

For the soup:
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp caster sugar
600g onions, peeled & thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1L of beef stock
250ml white wine
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper

For the croûte:
½ day old baguette
4 thin slices of Camembert

To make the soup melt the butter and olive oil together in a large pan then add the finely chopped garlic and finely sliced onions. Add the sugar and sauté on a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown along the edges.

Now turn the pan down to a low heat and allow the onions to gently caramelise and turn brown for a further 15-20 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the stickiness from the bottom of the pan intermittently.

Once the onions are thoroughly caramelised add the wine and stock and return to a medium heat to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Again mix well with a wooden spoon ensuring all the caramelised onion is lifted from the bottom of the pan and season to taste.

To make the croûte slice the bread into thin slices and lightly toast under the grill. Just before serving top with a wedge of Camembert cheese and again place under the grill to melt.

Serve each bowl of soup with one croûte floating on top and more served on a plate on the table.