To help navigate the most challenging winter months, acclaimed chef Ryan Riley is sharing weekly recipes from his personal collection of favourite dishes designed to bring both comfort and joy. This week's featured delight on his small pleasure menu is a remarkably quick French pickled onion soup.
A Shortcut to Deep Flavour
"What could be more joyful than creating something delicious and comforting that can be prepared in half the usual time?" asks Riley, presenting his innovative take on the classic French onion soup. While traditional versions require hours of patient caramelisation, this clever adaptation achieves similar depth of flavour through strategic shortcuts.
The Pickled Onion Advantage
Instead of beginning with raw onions that demand lengthy cooking, Riley's recipe starts with a jar of strong pickled onions. These are thinly sliced and softened in a combination of butter and olive oil, requiring just ten minutes of covered cooking. A pinch of sugar and a splash of the onions' own pickling liquor then helps develop golden edges and a subtle tangy complexity that belies the minimal effort involved.
Building the Soup Base
Once the onions reach their caramelised state, grated garlic joins the pan followed by a tablespoon of plain flour to provide thickening power. The remaining pickling liquid is gradually incorporated, followed by hot beef stock prepared quickly from stock pots. The entire mixture then simmers for just ten additional minutes until it reaches a rich, glossy consistency.
The Final Result
What emerges is a deeply savoury creation with faint sharp notes that somehow manages to be oddly soothing. While this version omits the traditional cheese-topped crouton (though Riley encourages personal adaptations), it delivers all the comforting qualities of the classic. The soup stands perfectly on its own as a quick, delightfully lazy meal that tastes deceptively labour-intensive.
Serve ladled into bowls with a scattering of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley while still piping hot. The satisfaction comes not just from the rich flavour, but from the knowledge that this comforting dish required only a fraction of the expected time and effort—a secret joy that only the cook needs to appreciate.
Recipe Details
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
- 30g unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 × 440g jar of strong pickled onions, drained and thinly sliced (reserve the liquid)
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 50ml pickled onion juice (from the jar)
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 800ml hot beef stock, made with 2 jelly beef stock pots
- a few flat-leaf parsley sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
Method:
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the sliced pickled onions, cover the pan with a lid, and sweat the onions for 10 minutes until softened.
- Remove the lid, add the sugar, and cook for 15 minutes more, stirring regularly to prevent the sugar from catching on the pan bottom. Add a tablespoon of the onion juice halfway through cooking until the onions develop a golden, caramelised colour.
- Add the grated garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then incorporate the plain flour, stirring well to cook out the raw flour taste.
- Increase the heat and continue stirring while gradually adding the remaining pickled-onion juice, followed by the beef stock.
- Once all liquid is incorporated, give the mixture a thorough stir, then cover the pan again and simmer for 10 minutes until the soup thickens and reduces slightly.
- Divide the finished soup between two bowls, scatter equally with chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
