Makes 1 1/2 quarts
This soup is a winter favorite. It pairs one of our favorite spices, cardamom, with white onions, crispy prosciutto, and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano for a combination of sweet, salty, and buttery that will knock your socks off.
Ingredients
Soup
- 1/4 cup olive oil or unsalted butter
- 2 lb sweet onions, sliced
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or sliced
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- 2 cups Chicken Broth, warmed
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Garnish (optional)
- 1 cup heavy cream, lightly whipped
- 4 slices Italian or French bread, brushed with olive oil and toasted
- 6 slices prosciutto, thinly sliced and crisped in the oven (the same way you would cook bacon)
- Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved with a peeler, to taste
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced over high heat to 1/8 cup
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives, or as needed
Directions
- To make the soup: Heat the olive oil or butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots, garlic, and cardamom. Slowly cook until all the onions are soft and translucent with no color, about 5 minutes; be very careful not to brown the vegetables because this is a white soup.
- Add the broth, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Skim any foam that rises to the surface, reduce the heat, and allow the soup to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
- Allow the soup to cool slightly then process it in a blender until completely smooth. Strain the soup through a fine-mesh sieve. You may serve the soup alone at this point or add the garnish in step 4.
- Ladle the hot soup into bowls and spoon a dollop of the whipped cream into each one; the whipped cream will spread out like a cappuccino’s foam. Place a piece of crusty bread into each bowl to soak up the soup and crumble a crispy piece of prosciutto on top. Finish with some shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, a drizzle of the sweet, reduced balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkling of chives.
