Food - Drink
The Unconventional Ingredient Lidia Bastianich Uses To Elevate Onion Soup
By LAUREN ROTHMAN
French onion soup is a comforting icon, consisting of sliced onions caramelized in butter, then simmered in beef stock and topped with toasted bread blanketed with plenty of melted Gruyère cheese. Celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich may mostly focus on Italian cooking, but she knows how to elevate the flavors of French onion soup.
Instead of using only onions, Bastianich sautées 10 ounces of sliced white mushrooms with the onions, lending an extra depth of flavor to the rich soup. She loves how the sweetness of onions complements the rustic earthiness of mushrooms, and she also uses Italian fontina cheese, making for a twist on the classic that really works.
Bastianich writes about her onion soup recipe, "When we were testing this recipe in my kitchen, I had a box of mushrooms in my refrigerator and wanted to use them up." While it may have been a happy accident for Bastianich, you’ll definitely want to try adding mushrooms to your French onion soup on purpose next time.