French onion and porter soup

SERVES 4

Porter is an ale made with dark and roasted malts that give the beer a dark ruby colour and flavours of coffee, chocolate, raisins and caramel, to name a few. It is a complex, full-flavoured ale that is perfect for this soup.

45 g (1½ oz) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 anchovy fillets

1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) brown onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

4 dried bay leaves

two 330 ml (11¼ fl oz) bottles of porter (I used James Squire Porter)

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) beef stock

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 sourdough baguette

100 g (3½ oz/¾ cup) grated gruyère cheese

Put the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and combined with the oil, add the anchovies and cook for 5 minutes, or until they have melted into the oil mixture.

Add the onion and stir well so that all the slices are well coated with the anchovy butter. Turn the heat down to medium–low and put a lid on the pan. Let the onion cook gently for 30 minutes, giving it a stir several times to make sure it cooks evenly. Add the garlic, stirring it through. Continue to cook gently, without the lid on, for another 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to make sure the onion doesn’t overcook or stick to the pan.

Add the thyme, bay leaves, beer, stock, sugar, salt and pepper, stirring well to combine all the flavours. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce by one-third and the soup to thicken and darken in colour.

Preheat the grill (broiler) to high and line a baking tray with foil. Cut eight slices 1 cm (½ inch) thick on the diagonal from the baguette, then toast until golden. Place the toasts on the foil and cover each slice with a generous amount of cheese. Cook under the grill until the cheese has melted.

Ladle the soup into four bowls, then serve two gruyère toasts on top of each soup.