Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Instructions

1. First, slice three pounds of yellow onions. This is a lot of onions, so get ready to cry, or invest in some eye protection. See the notes for some tips on slicing onions.
2. Once you have all of the onions sliced, heat 3 tablespoons of your choice of fat in a large stockpot. I recommend using a dutch oven, but if you don’t have one that’s okay, any large stockpot will work. 
3. Add all of the onions, and toss in the fat. I ended up needing an additional tablespoon of olive oil to get all of the onions coated. 
4. Caramelize the onions over medium-low heat. This will take some time, so you might as well get comfortable. It took me around half of an hour to get the onions to the depth of color that I was looking for. I wanted the onions to not only be brown but to go past that to the stage where they get a little jammy and are super fragrant and soft. You want to ensure that you’re stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking and burning. If you get a little bit of sticky-burnage, don’t fret! That’s why we deglaze it in step 6.
5. Once the onions have reached the desired amount of caramelization, add in 5 cloves of minced garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring as you go. If you prefer a thicker soup, now would be a great time to add the flour. I added two tablespoons, but you can add as many as you’d like. Some things to consider would be how much you can add before it starts getting clumpy, as well as making sure that you saute it a little longer so that you can’t taste raw flour in the final soup.
6. Add in the white wine (or non-alcoholic substitute) to deglaze the pan. As you add the liquid, scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen up all of the caramelized goodness clinging there.
7. Once you’re content with the deglaze, add the veggie stock, soy sauce, and herbs and stir together. To add the bouillon, I simply took ¼ of a teaspoon and swirled it directly into the soup. Increase the heat to medium and allow to come to a simmer for 15 minutes or longer. Remember, if you simmer uncovered, the flavors will intensify, but so will the salinity. 
8. While the soup is simmering, preheat the oven. Typically I would broil at this stage, but my oven-safe bowl is only good up to 450F so that’s where I set the oven. Next, cut the bread into 2-inch slices. I chose to make garlic bread by adding some olive oil and garlic salt, but you could just as easily add some cheese to the bread as well. 
9. When the soup is done, add it to an oven-safe dish. Top the soup with cheese and arrange it on the tray with the bread. Put the baking sheet with soup and bread in the oven for just a few minutes. I wasn’t able to get my cheese crispy, but I did get a nice thick layer of melty cheese! You definitely want to keep an eye on this, however, since the bread can go from perfect to burnt in under a minute! 
10.  Allow to cool slightly, and serve with warm garlic bread! Enjoy.