French Onion One-Pot Pasta
Inspired by the deeply savory flavors of French onion soup, this single-pan pasta is a surefire crowd please—and better still, it couldn’t be easier to make. You start by caramelizing your onions to create a deeply flavorful base, then simply add your cooking liquid, aromatic flavorings, and dried pasta to the pan—bring everything to a boil and cook until your pasta is tender and the liquid is largely absorbed. This French Onion Pasta is here to prove that all you need for an incredible meal is one pan and a plan.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet onions about 2 pounds, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ – ⅔ cup sherry or dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
- 2 – 2 ⅓ cups water
- 2 – 3 cups beef broth Minor's Beef Concentrate: 1/2 tablespoon for 12 ounces pasta; 4 teaspoons OR 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon for 16 ounces pasta
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce plus 1 teaspoon for 16 ounces of pasta
- 12-16 ounces linguine broken in half
- 1 – 1 ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 – 1 ⅓ cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Instructions
- Place a large skillet with flat sides over medium-high heat and add olive oil and butter.
- Stir in onions and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper; cook an additional 5 minutes or until onions have browned and are jam-like in texture.
- Stir in sherry and scrape the bottom of the skillet to remove any brown bits on the bottom.
- Stir in water, beef broth, thyme leaves, parsley, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Add broken linguine and stir to incorporate pasta into the liquid.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Remove from heat and cover for 3 minutes.
- Toss in grated Parmesan, Gruyere, and garnish with thyme sprigs and chopped parsley, if desired.
Notes
Useful user comment: I caramelized the onions for more like 45 minutes. It also took the pasta longer to cook than the recipe suggested and I added more water to finish it off al dente. The cheese really made it and next time I might splurge and get the really good gruyere for it.
Original recipe calls for 12 ounces of pasta, but has been adapted for up to 16 ounces of pasta. That's an increase of one-third, so meaningful ingredients have a range to indicate the lower value of the range for 12 ounces and the upper value for 16 ounces. Note that for Worcestershire sauce, the additional 1 teaspoon was noted as a comment.