Onion Soup With Gruyere Cheese Balls Recipe

"I have been making this recipe for years, my goodness it was such a lovely delicious soup on a cold winter's night!! I always cooked it when we had guests and everyone used to love it. I had forgotten about it and it wasn't until recently a friend remembered the soup and asked me for the recipe, so after digging it out I decided to post it on here. I have even been known to make the soup thicker add some cream (not make the cheese balls) and use it as a pasta sauce for my son (when he was young) for some reason he loved it this way. Any stock can be used but I prefer chicken. N.B. -- Gruyere cheese is a semi-hard, cooked and made from the curd of cow's milk cheese, it contains small holes and has a light cream-yellow colour."

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Heat 25gr of the butter on a low heat, and add the sliced onions and cook for 5 minutes, then add a few tablespoons of the stock. Cook this for 10 minutes watching it doesn't burn and then add half the stock and cook again for another 10 minutes and add one third of the milk. Allow to cool slightly and puree in a blender or processor. Return to the pan with the remaining stock.

Step 2

Prepare the cheese balls ~ Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, mix well with a wooden spoon, add 225ml of hot milk and stir until the mixture is thick and smooth. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat and beat in the egg yolk and Gruyere cheese. Mix well and turn the mixture onto a damp plate and cool completely. Divide into small even portions and form lots of tiny balls about 2cm (3/4 inch) across. When formed roll the balls in extra flour.