Saveurs de Méribel – French onion soup with Beaufort d’alpage

May 19, 2022

Surprise your guests with this winter recipe

A delicious and easy recipe

Sylvain Chardonnet and his chef Thomas welcomed us into their kitchen and shared with us their recipe for a traditional French onion soup made with Méribel Beaufort d’alpage.

Click here to see the video recipe.

Ingredients :

For 4 people

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

600g onions
25g plain flour
50g butter
100g of Beaufort d’Alpage cheese
4 slices granary bread
1 small bunch thyme
100ml Porto
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
Salt, pepper

Method

Peel and finely slice the onions.

Tip : Rinse the onions in cold water before you chop them to reduce tears.

Sweat the onions in a cast iron saucepan with 50g of butter over a medium heat. Add three pinches of salt to draw the water out of the onions. Stir frequently until the onions turn golden brown.

Once the onions are well browned, add a few pinches of thyme and 100ml of port and continue stirring to scrape up the crusty bits on the bottom of the pan.

Tip : Deglaze the pan in several times in a row to create the maximum crusty bits.

Add the flour and mix well.
Pour 1.5l water into the pan and bring to the boil. Add salt and pepper and the stock cube.
Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, by when the soup should have reduced in volume by half.

While the onions are cooking, grate 100g of Beaufort d’Alpage cheese.

Tip : The Perret Farm, by the Tuéda Lake, produces an excellent Beaufort d’Alpage made with milk from the Méribel valley.

Cut one slice of bread per person and toast under the grill or in a toaster.

Ladle the onion soup into large bowls and lay a slice of toast on top of each. Cover with Beaufort and a pinch of thyme.
Place under a hot grill until the Beaufort browns.

Tip : Alternatively, place the slices of toast and Beaufort in the saucepan and put in the oven.