French Onion Soup Sandwich

Without a doubt one of my favorite meals to eat is a big bowl of French Onion soup. The blissful combo of sweet and tender caramelized onions in a savory beef broth with a crispy crouton and a layer of melted cheese is a comfort food like no other. One day, my best friend James and I were bouncing different creative recipes around and we thought about taking the contents of a French Onion soup and making it into a sandwich. We whipped up a batch and holy cow were they delicious. Turned out we were a little behind as someone else out there had already thought the same way but our recipe differs from there's and I'm confident we have the better sandwich. Caramelized onions, a combination of melted Gruyere and Cheddar cheese, and melted together on slices of French baguette or a Croissant is everything you love about French Onion soup except the bowl.

Recipe yields 2 sandwiches

2 large onions
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 pound of Cheddar Gruyere mix
1/4 cup of dry Red Wine or Beef Broth
1 clove of minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon of Thyme 
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
Dijon Mustard
4 slices of French baguette or 2 croissants

Start by slicing both your onions into medium slices, about 1/4 inch thick of so. I used both a sweet onion and a purple onion here because that was what I had on hand but you can use whatever kind you prefer. In a large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat and add your onions to the pan. Season with freshly cracked blacked pepper and kosher salt. It will look like a lot of onions for two sandwiches but
they are going to cook down a lot.

Now just like we are making actual French onion soup the key is to cook our onions low and slow to let them caramelize and develop their sweet flavor. Stir the onions often and let them cook for about 45 minutes. The onions will be very very tender and have a rich brown color to them

Once the onions have cooked down, add the minced clove of garlic and the thyme leaves. Stir together to allow the garlic to cook for a few minutes. Next add either the red wine or the beef broth and stir together. Here is a little tip - if you're using beef broth it's silly to open on a can just for a 1/4 cup. Instead, dissolve half of a beef bouilon cube in 1/4 cup of boiling water and add to the pan. Stir together and cook for another 7-10 minutes. While the onions finish cooking in the wine or broth, shred the cheese and slice the baguette or the croissants (I've made it with both and either one works perfectly). Taste your onions for seasoning.

Spread  the outside of each slice of bread with a bit of softened butter and on the inside add a bit of the Dijon mustard. Sprinkle a bit of the shredded cheese over top and then add a layer of our caramelized onions. Add some more shredded cheese on top of the onions and place the cap on top of the sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a panini press or a preheated griddle and grill on each side until golden brown and crispy.