Classic French Onion Soup is a perfect example of how a small number of simple ingredients can be turned into something amazing. Despite its reputation as a difficult recipe with many complicated steps, it is actually much easier than most people think. Once you learn the basics, you’ll be able to make this time-honored dish without even following a recipe.

Start with 3 or 4 large onions, preferably the sweet variety. Other types will do, but candy is my favorite to work with. Cut them into thin slices and toss them into a soup pot with a little melted butter and olive oil. Why oil and butter? The butter adds flavor and the olive oil prevents the butter from burning. Next, add a little salt, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, two or three crushed cloves of garlic and a splash of water, and turn up the heat.

Starting with high heat and a little extra water will help draw the moisture out of the onions. This is the first step for them to acquire that beautiful golden brown color that you are looking for. Until most of the water has been used up, it won’t be able to reach the temperature it needs to start the camelization process, because evaporation cools them too much. However, once the onions have reduced in size and there isn’t much liquid around them, you’ll need to lower the heat to prevent them from burning. This is really the only tricky part of making French onion soup, and it’s best to err on the side of caution and keep the heat low. So the only bad thing that happens is that it takes longer to cook the onion.

After the onions reach your desired color (the darker, the sweeter), you’ll need to deglaze them. This just means adding a liquid to the pot and then scraping the cooked bits off the bottom of the pot. White wine is best for this recipe, and what I do is pour in a quarter cup and use a wooden spoon to scrape off the dark bits on the bottom. After the wine has been absorbed or evaporated, I repeat the process three times. This infuses a lot of flavor into the onions.

After deglazing, add the remaining ingredients. First, add a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard, then add another half cup of white wine. Lastly, add 2 quarts of beef broth or, if you want a lighter flavor, add a quart of beef and chicken broth. Bring the soup to a simmer and leave it there for about 15 minutes.

If you want to stop at this point, you will have a wonderful soup as is. But if you want to go all out you can add the baked cheese topping without too much trouble. First, slice up some nice French bread (we can stay on topic, right?) and some Gruyère cheese. You can use Swiss cheese instead if you like, but Gruyere is the classic choice. When the soup finishes simmering, serve it in oven-safe onion soup bowls set on a baking sheet. Add a slice of bread to each bowl and top with some cheese. Put everything under the broiler for a minute or so until the cheese melts and starts to brown around the edges. Be careful! Getting burned on one of the bowls would be bad enough, but pouring hot soup on your forehead is downright disgusting.

Serve the soup with a few extra slices of bread. Be sure to put the bowl and bread on a plate to avoid burning your fingers or placemats.

Here are the ingredients listed again for convenience:

3 or 4 large onions;
2 or 3 cloves of garlic;
butter and olive oil;
Salt;
a little water (maybe a quarter cup);
fresh thyme sprigs;
glass and a half of white wine;
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard;
2 quarts beef broth, or 1 quart beef and chicken broth;
French bread and Gruyère cheese (optional)

Enjoy!