Recipe

Ingredients
I never follow recipes! I’ve made this soup for many years, and every time it’s slightly different – but always nice. Don’t be afraid to add twists if you wish!

Imperial	Metric	Ingredient
18 oz	500 g	white onions (about 3 medium) – locally grown if possible
2 tsp	10 ml	oil (any without a strong flavour – I use rapeseed)
1 oz	30 g	butter (you can buy good local butter in Nantwich)
1 oz	30 g	plain white flour
½ pint	300 ml	dry cider (I recommend the Wrenbury still cider)
1 pint	600 ml	stock (boiling bacon is my choice – but vegetable stock can be substituted)
½ pint	300 ml	milk
4 ozs	120 g	local cheese (grated if possible or thinly sliced if it’s too soft to grate).  See the Variations Page for advice on choice of cheese.
1 tsp	5 ml	thyme
		salt (celery salt if you’ve got it) and pepper to taste.  Salt is probably not necessary if you’re using bacon stock.

Method

1. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a saucepan (I use a non-stick saucepan with a tight fitting lid).
2. Add the chopped onion
   
   and sweat the onion
   
   for about 10 or 15 minutes. Sweating means cooking the onion at a relatively low temperature and keeping the lid on (we’re not making burnt brown onion soup here, and we want to conserve all that onion flavour). If you want to stir don’t – just hold the lid on and shake the pan, whilst looking like a TV chef!
3. Add the flour as quickly as possible and quickly stir:
4. Then add the cider and quickly stir again (we don’t want any lumps) and then the stock:
5. 
6. Add the thyme (and enjoy the rest of the cider).
7. Simmer for about 10 or 15 minutes (timings don’t matter that much – I like my onions to have a bit of bite, but cook for longer if you prefer them softer).  Then add the milk and half the cheese.
8. Bring back to near boiling and add the cheese. Stir until cheese has melted and then serve. I like to serve with a swirl of cream and some chopped chives:

Croutons can also be added, or hold back some of the cheese to sprinkle on.

Possible variations