When I first moved to the city I learned about tapas style restaurants. If you are unfamiliar with tapas, this is where you get a bunch of small portions, almost like tastings, and that is your meal! A favorite restaurant of mine is Stanton Social on the Lower East Side. I am a HUGE French onion soup lover and when I saw French onion soup dumplings on the menu I just had to try it. I loved it so much that I wanted to learn how to make it. Here is the recipe and a few tips that will help you make it successfully for your future party guests.
You will need a gratin dish. They used to sell gratin dishes at Bed Bath and Beyond that looked like they were for deviled eggs so the soup dumplings had their own little hole, but if you just get a small gratin dish that works as well. Be sure to spray it with cooking spray and put it on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil before putting it into the oven. I also purchased a cooking brush that will help with this recipe as well. This recipe says you can make it with counterfeit French onion soup, but I think it tastes better when you make it from scratch. Here is the recipe:
Counterfeit French Onion Soup Onions
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 1 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup cognac
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- The leaves of 4 sprigs thyme
Counterfeit French Onion soup Recipe
- Heat the butter and oil in a sauté pan on medium-low heat. Add the onions, sugar, salt, and pepper, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat so that the onions don’t burn. You want the onions to be soft and not hard.
- After 30 minutes, add the cognac, and reduce for 1 minute. Add the wine and beef stock,bay leaf and thyme. Season again with salt and pepper. Simmer on low for another 30 minutes.
In the recipe it states to drain the onions, but I chose not to and to just lower the heat on the stove to the lowest temperature.
Making the Soup Dumplings
- Turn your oven to the broiler setting (this should only take a few minutes to heat up)
- Take a wonton wrapper in your hand, and use the cooking brush and dip it in the broth in the pan and brush the inside of the wonton wrapper with it. Instead of using your fingers and getting them all soupy this allows you to get the wrapper covered in the soup without making a mess. Line the wonton wrapper with the soup so that way it closes on the sides after you fill it.
- Take about a teaspoon of the drained onions, and place it into the center of the wonton wrapper. Then take the opposite corners and fold it into a point and then take the other to corners and fold it into the middle and the twist all 4 corner together in the middle. This recipe suggests you flip the dumpling upside down in the pan. I did not do that and it still turned out just as delicious. Keep making dumplings until you have packed both gratin dishes.
- Top each gratin dish some Gruyère and some of the Parmesan. I do not go by a specific amount I just put it on until it covers the top of the dumplings. Dot little dabs of butter all over the top of the cheese. This will allow the cheese to brown and toast like on real French Onion Soup.
- Sit the dumplings under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Depending on your personal preference it could be more.
- Take them out of the oven and stick some toothpicks into the soup dumplings.
Let them sit for two minutes otherwise when you bite into them you will burn yourself. Trust me I know from experience!
ENJOY!!
