Five-Onion Soup With Scallion And Gruyere Croutons - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 large yellow onions, chopped (1/4 - 1/2-inch pieces)
2 red onions, chopped (as above)
4 shallots, chopped
2 leeks, halved lengthwise and sliced (white part only)
1 cup scallion, sliced (white part only, save greens for the croutons)
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups red wine
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 gallon beef stock (rich, from beef bones roasted with tomato paste, like Beef Stock Beef Stock by txzuckerbaeckerin)
1 French baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch thick coins
3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese

Preparation

In a large stockpot, saute the five onions, garlic, and a heavy pinch of salt in 2 tbsp oil until the onions are carmelized. Deglaze with the wine. Add thyme and stock to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for about an hour. Adjust seasoning as needed, and remove the thyme stems.
Shortly before the soup is finished, preheat the broiler. Mix a generous amount of the scallion greens with the cheese. Coat the bread coins with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, and place on the broiler pan. Top each coin with some of the cheese mixture. Bake in the middle of the broiler for about 3 minutes to melt the cheese, then move them closer to the broiler element to get the cheese brown and bubbly.
Ladle the soup into a bowl, and top with several Gruyere croutons. Allow them to rest a bit, to soak up some of the soup, before eating.