French Onion Soup with Everything Bagel Fauxmage

Soup: In a large soup pot over medium - low heat (you may need to adjust periodically) add vegan butter, veg oil and onions. Season with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Give them a stir to coat in the oil, then allow them to cook slowly without stirring too often. This will allow onions to caramelize. Stir only as needed for about 45 minutes or until soft and golden & caramelized. Add chopped garlic towards the end to soften.

Now turn up the heat a bit higher than medium, and add tomato paste. Cook and stir for a couple minutes.

Add all purpose flour, stir and cook for a couple minutes longer.

Turn up heat to medium high, then deglaze with red wine, stir, then simmer and allow to reduce for a few minutes.

Add veg stock, bay leaves, a sprig of fresh thyme, soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Season with more salt and pepper.

Simmer for about 30 minutes. Then I often like to let my soup hang out on low heat for a while to allow the flavours time to develop.

Garnish: Heat oven to 425 F

For the baguette, cut thick slices to divide between 4 bowls. I like to have enough bread sliced to fully cover each bowl so that there is cheese over all of the soup, so you can plan to cut more than one slice per person and then cut the bread into halves to layer them into the soup bowls. This also creates height and visual appeal.

Drizzle slices of bread on both sides with a bit of olive oil, place on a baking sheet and into the oven. Flip half way through. Keep an eye, you want both sides to be toasty and golden.

Now ladle hot soup into oven safe french onion soup bowls. Top all pieces of toasted baguette with a generous amount of Everything Bagel Cheese. I just use a spoon to pile it on evenly, pressing it enough to adhere to the toast.

Now divide cheesy toasts amongst the soup bowls. Sprinkle over top each bowl some shredded vegan mozza. A couple good sized pinches for full coverage. If you have fauxmage left you can certainly crumble a bit more over top.

Now place soup bowls onto a baking sheet and carefully place them into the oven. Turn the oven to a low broil. Cook until cheese is hot and melty. 3 - 5 minutes. Keep an eye!