French Onion Soup

Ingredients
3-5 c sliced onion
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1-2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white sugar
1 c Pinot Grigio
8-10 c beef broth

1/2 lb cubed stale bread
1/4 c melted butter or 2-3 tbsp olive oil

cheese (Swiss, Gruyere, Mozzarella)

Directions
1. Slice the onions thin. You can use a knife for this, but I found a mandoline slicer made it easier.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan or skillet.
3. Add onions to butter and stir. Once the onions start to soften, add the garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and sugar.
4. Saute the onions until they are soft and start to brown.
5. Stir the wine and broth together in a crock pot set on high. Gently add the onion mixture and stir to combine.
6. Let everything cook together in the crock pot for 4-6 hours.
7. At some point while the soup is cooking, preheat the oven to 350*F.
8. Toss the cubed bread in the melted butter or olive oil. Spread across a cookie sheet and bake at 350*F until brown (about 15 minutes).
8. Remove croutons from the oven and set aside to cool.
9. When you're ready for soup, put some of the soup into an oven-safe dish. You can do this in a larger dish for multiple people or in individual serving dishes (small souffle dishes work great). Put some of the croutons on top, then cover with cheese. Place into the oven at 350*F until the cheese melts.
10. Serve hot.

Tips
1. You can use pre-made croutons for this, if you so choose.
2. If you use shredded cheese, it melts pretty well on its own, if you want to skip the oven step. If you use slices, I'd recommend the oven.
3. You can use all beef broth or a mix of beef and chicken. I prefer all beef broth. You can use a little more or a little less, depending on how much broth you prefer in a soup like this.
4. How many cups of onions you use depends on, well, how much you like onions. I tend to use the full 5 cups, but it is still perfectly tasty with 3-4 cups.
5. If you want, toss in some seasonings with the croutons. I prefer plain for something like this, but there are a lot of seasonings that work well on them in general – garlic salt, oregano, rosemary, etc.
6. You can also just let this simmer in a pot on the stove for several hours or let it cook all day on low on the crock pot.