French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese

The inspiration for this recipe came from my good ole' friend, Greg, who shares my obsession for grilled cheese and is a huge supporter of my cooking endeavors. He simply texted me one day and said, 'French onion soup grilled cheese?' My response: Consider it blogged.  

I'm a huge fan of Tyler Florence's recipe for French Onion Soup, so I took Tyler's recipe, made a few tweaks of my own and POOF! A delicious, ooey gooey French Onion Soup grilled cheese. 

Today's lineup

The filling

And the PERFECT golden flip!

French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese

INGREDIENTS

Makes Four Grilled Cheese

• 1/4 cup of butter (plus more to spread on your bread)
• 2 small onions, sliced (or one large onion) 
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 fresh thyme sprig
• 1/8 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced
• Salt & pepper
• 8 slices of sourdough, Italian, or country bread (I used sourdough)

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the 1/4 cup of butter in a saute pan over medium heat.
2. Once the butter has completely melted, add your onions, garlic, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until the onions become caramelized, about 20 minutes or so. 
3. Add your wine to the onion mixture and simmer for about five minutes, until the wine evaporates. Take out your thyme sprig. 
4. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and add in your beef broth. Then stir occasionally for 10 minutes. If desired, add more salt and pepper to taste. 
5. Heat your griddle to 300 degress (or begin warming your non-stick pan over low heat if you don't have a griddle).
6. Begin preparing your sandwiches by buttering one side of each piece of bread. 
7. Place one slice of bread (butter side down) on your skillet or griddle, then top with a layer of gruyere, and the onions. Top with another piece of bread with the butter side facing up. Cook on this side until cheese starts to melt and the bottom side of the bread begins to turn golden (the key with grilled cheese is LOW AND SLOW - cook on low heat for longer so your cheese melts completely and you don't burn your bread). Then flip your grilled cheese to cook on the other side for about the same amount of time. 
8. Remove your grilled cheese form the skillet and serve.