This is Noonie. She’s a very standoffish snobby kitty.

Noonie would be very fond of this soup were she able to cook it. Having no opposable thumbs and an unshakeable hatred for mankind, she probably won’t. But you, on the other hand,  can make this soup. In fact, you should. It’s a bit time-consuming, so it’s not something you could whip on the quick on a weekend night before you go out. But if you wanted to impress the person you love or if you’ve having a dinner party, it would be a lovely first course.

There are some changes I made to the recipe I found online. The original calls for pureeing the soup and then straining it through a fine-mesh sieve to extract as much puree as possible. Well, I didn’t see that it needed to be that, well, thin. Instead I just used my immersion blender directly in the Dutch oven; I left it with some texture. Small bits of the many onions and garlic. It seemed nicer that way. The Parmesan crostini also didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted either, but still held up nicely when floated on top of the soup.

Six Onion Soup w/Parmesan Crostini

4 tbl. unsalted butter

2 yellow onions, chopped

3 leeks, cleaned well, white part only, sliced

4 shallots, sliced

6 green onions, white part only, sliced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

salt & white pepper

1 tbl. chives, minced

1 tsp. minced garlic

4 French bread slices (small rounds)

2 tbl. grated Parmesan cheese

In a large stockpot over medium-low, melt butter. Add the onions, leeks, shallot, green onions and garlic and cook until softened, stirring occasionally. This took me about 20 minutes; I liked them a bit caramelized. Add the chicken stock and cream and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper. Remove the pot from the heat and place on heatproof surface. Pulse with your immersion blender until the consistency is what you like. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a food processor and work in batches. But be careful not to burn yourself.) Garnish with minced chives.

Preheat oven to 350. Spread minced garlic on the bread, top with the cheese and bake golden brown. Float on top of the soup.