Tuscan Onion Soup (Carabaccia)
—Not On Website, Soup
Ingredients
4 pounds red onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 leaves sage
freshly ground black pepper to taste
ground cinnamon
¼ cup finely ground almonds (Optional)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
5 cups beef broth, or more as needed
For the Toast:
3 thick slices Italian bread, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste, divided
3 leaves sage, or to taste, sliced into thin strips
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste, divided
Directions
Trim ends off onions; halve and peel. Cut onions into thin slices lengthwise along the grain.
Heat olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and kosher salt. Cook and stir until starting to turn translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and sweet, about 1 hour.
Add sage leaves, pepper, cinnamon, and almonds to the onions. Cook and stir until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a soup pot. Pour in red wine vinegar and broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place Italian bread on the baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the bread; sprinkle sliced sage and some Parmesan cheese on top.
Toast in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.
Ladle soup into serving bowls and top each with a piece of toast. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the toast and sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top. Dunk toast into the soup and let soak for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
If you want to cut down on stirring, you can bake the onions in a roasting pan at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), stirring a few times along the way. Take your time and wait until they are very soft.
You can also use chicken or vegetable broth in this.
While traditional, many people don't enjoy the effect cinnamon has on the sweetness of the soup, so you may want to omit it, or add an extremely small amount, and then adjust from there. If you don't add any to the pot, you can still experiment by adding a trace amount to a small sample cup, and see what you think.
Substitute Pecorino cheese for the Parmesan if desired.
Nutrition
308 calories; protein 9.4g; carbohydrates 37.7g; fat 14.6g; cholesterol 2.2mg; sodium 1749.9mg. Full Nutrition