Onion soup

I've been busy harvesting onions, although to be quite honest I'm not sure what to do with them. There are about 20 left in my garden, and we've got maybe 15 at home - not sure what happened to the other 35 I planted, unless I'm really not counting correctly.

They didn't really dry out the way the garlic did - most of them were still green and happy. And we've been experiencing rain! And lightning! And thunder! IN JUNE! It's crazy. So I guess they're not going to dry out anytime soon.

Some of them are HUGE. And some are small. The ones I thought didn't do anything at all actually did produce nice little onions. What to do with all these onions?

Loris made a frittata for dinner a couple nights ago, which was delicious. And last night I made onion soup, using a recipe I more or less made up after browsing a few cookbooks and looking online to get some ideas. It was divine. Here's the recipe.

2.5 large onions (or more smaller ones)
Olive oil and butter
Marsala wine (dry)
Turkey stock (or some other stock - I used some concentrated frozen stock from my Thanksgiving turkey, about 1/2 cup or so)
Broth (around 4 cups - I used Knorr's veggie boullion)
Bay leaves

Slice the onions thinly. Put some butter and olive oil into a medium pot over medium-low heat, and wait for it to get hot and the butter to melt. Add the sliced onions and saute for at least 45 minutes, adjusting the heat so that they are cooking slowly (with my electric stove, I have to start with higher heat, and then lower it once everything heats up). Stir often, keeping an eye so that the onion gets soft and carmelizes, but doesn't brown. If it seems a bit dry, add more olive oil and/or butter.

Add the concentrated stock and a good helping of marsala wine, enough to make a sort of sauce, and let cook another 10 minutes. Then add the broth and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes or longer (probably less is ok too).

Take out the bay leaves, and serve.

This can probably be served with a dusting of parmesan cheese, or traditional-style with a toasted slice of bread and some melted cheese.