This recipe appeared in an email from joythebaker.com and it made my taste buds water. Caramelized onions almost to the point of onion jam, good cheese such as gruyere and I used some fresh Calabrese bread. What a great lunch – would have been nice to have a small cup of homemade tomato soup or even a few potato chips. Next time! What can I say all I had were pickles and radishes to serve alongside this yummy grilled cheese sandwich.
French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled, cut in half and sliced into 1/4-inch thick semi-circles
- 3 tbsp. unsalted butter for cooking the onions and more softened for buttering the bread
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 heaping tsp. fresh thyme leaves (my thyme plants are showing signs of life at the soil level so I was able to use fresh)
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- pinch of granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp. white wine, beef broth or beer to deglaze the pan
- 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, grated (I used 1 cup) or a cheese of your choice
- 4 slices bread (I used a fresh loaf of Calabrese bread)
Add butter and oil to a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat; stir until the butter melts. Add all of the onions and stir to coat; cook for about 4 minutes without stirring. Add the salt, pepper, thyme and sugar and combine. Place a lid on the skillet and cook for about 4 minutes at a time, stir and continue cooking at 4 minute increments. It took 40 minutes to get dark caramelized onions. Turn the heat down if browning too quickly and you also don’t need to cook them this long – cook them to your personal preference.
Once the onions are deeply browned add your liquid of choice. Scrape up any burned bits off the bottom of the pan as the liquid evaporates, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and allow to rest while you assemble the sandwiches.
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place two in the skillet buttered side down and add gruyere to cover the bread; then add some onions, followed by more cheese. Top with the remaining slices of bread and butter the tops.
Cook over medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is melted. Flip and brown the other side.
Just delicious and would also make a great panini sandwich!
Comment: The sandwich is rather rich with butter in the onions and on the bread, so adjust the amount if desired.
Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com
Caramelized onions with Gruyere is great in itself, but adding white wine and thyme to the mix takes it to another level altogether. Brilliant.
I know what I’m going to have for lunch tomorrow. 🙂
I agree Ronit – when you want a special grilled cheese this is the perfect answer. Hope you have a chance to try it 🙂
The onions are cooking as I write this… 🙂
I just saw another recipe where crispy bacon was added and brie was used instead of gruyere – now that sounds delicious!
This was very tasty, thanks again for sharing!
As for the other version, which sounds great, I think I’d wait for colder days before trying more. For some reason, such foods work better for me in the winter. 🙂
No problem – I was just adding info I found showing more possibilities 🙂
And I’ll definitely keep it in mind. So tempting! 🙂
I adore grilled cheese, yum!
Me too Liz – adding caramelized onions really kicks this sandwich up a notch 🙂
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i love caramelised onions! this looks great.
Caremlized onions are the best with anything and makes this grilled cheese extra special 🙂
I love grilled cheese sandwiches, and what a delicious addition to this classic, I can almost taste those caramelized onions!
Me too Irene – good cheese, good bread and delicious caramelized onions – can’t go wrong 🙂
😁😋
The sandwich doesn’t sound good, it sounds great!
Thanks Karen – I could get use to this sandwich on a regular basis 🙂
I was about to get up to prepare tea and saw your sandwich. Now I need to bake bread.
Fresh bread is a must with this sandwich and homemade is even better 🙂
I love grilled cheese sandwiches
Grilled cheese sandwiches are always good and so easy to make your own version. This recipe is a winner!