Cooking with Beer: Roasted Garlic and Onion Soup Recipe

The mellow, flavorful Brown Ale can be a delightful addition to a rich, hearty garlic and onion soup. You can roast additional heads of garlic for future use: Simply freeze the unpeeled heads in a well-sealed container for up to six months.

Prep time: About 10 min

Cook time: About 1-1/4 hr

Yield: 4–5 servings

3 large heads garlic

1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 large shallots, thinly sliced (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups beef or vegetable stock (preferably homemade)

1-1/2 teaspoons thyme or your favorite herb

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 12-ounce bottle English Brown Ale

1 cup croutons and 1-1/2 cup fresh grated cheese (Gruyère, Kaseri, or smoked provolone)

1. Strip off the majority of the papery skin on the outside of the garlic heads; cut the tip end off each head of garlic to expose cloves. Place the garlic heads on a square of foil, and drizzle each cut end with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil; seal the foil.

2. Place the garlic heads on a baking dish and bake in a 375-degree oven for 35 minutes or until the packet feels very soft when squeezed lightly. Cool and then pop cloves out of their papery skins; set aside.

3. While the garlic is baking, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and shallots, cooking until translucent, about 5 minutes.

4. Add sugar and salt to the onion mixture, continuing to cook until mixture is caramel-gold, about 4 minutes.

5. While the onion mixture cooks to caramel-gold, heat stock in a separate saucepan over medium-high heat until liquid is simmering; lower heat to maintain simmer.

6. Sprinkle herbs and flour over the onion mixture, stirring well. Cook 3 minutes, and then pour the hot broth over the onion mixture, stirring constantly.

7. Mash roasted garlic with a fork. Add garlic and ale to soup and simmer for 30 minutes.

8. Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into heat-proof bowls and top each one with enough croutons to just cover (amount will vary, depending on how wide your bowl is) and a generous sprinkling of cheese (3 to 4 tablespoons per serving). Run under a hot broiler briefly to melt and bubble cheese.

Per serving: Calories 349 (From Fat 174); Fat 19g (Saturated 10g); Cholesterol 46mg; Sodium 1,948mg; Carbohydrate 31g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 14g.