Slow-cooked Onion, Garlic and Rosemary Soup

There is something about an earthy onion, garlic and rosemary soup – I originally made this over Christmas and it served a delectable starter for guests I was staying with. A tribute to the wonderful cooking they had provided – this was my meagre offering in return…. The stock I used for the original dish was from the remnants of part boiled swede and parsnip.

Ingredients

10g almonds
1 bulb of garlic
4tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock
3 large onions, sliced
4 sprigs of rosemary, grounded
6 juniper berries

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to gas mark 180 degrees Celsius.
Pre-soak the almonds in boiling water for twenty minutes. Remove and discard the skin. Place the almonds in grinder and pulse finely.
Sauté the garlic in olive oil until the garlic turns almost black.
In a large pyrex dish place the vegetable stock, sliced onions, rosemary, garlic, oil and almonds.
Take the juniper berries and with the back of a knife, gently open up pressing firmly on the berries. Place in the dish.
Leave in the oven to cook about an hour, stirring every 20 minutes. The soup is done when the onions change into a luscious translucent brown.
Season to taste and serve warm.