Soupe de légumes gratinée

I nearly forgot to finish my potée / potée soup series. Here's the last meal we had of the potée vegetables and meats transformed into soupe.

It had never occurred to me, I believe, to put bread and cheese on a soup like this one. Even though, for years one of my favorite soupes has been the classic bistrot or café specialty called soupe à l'oignon gratinée. I've posted many times about French Onion Soup on this blog — almost every winter going back as far as 2006 and as recently six or seven months ago. Why had I never thought of treating vegetable soup the same way?

Walt thinks this was his suggestion, and that wouldn't surprise me. The soupe I had made with veal, pork, winter vegetables and potée broth might be a good candidate for an onion-soup-style gratinée. What you do is heat up the soupe and pour it into oven-proof soup bowls. Float two or three thick slices of slightly dry (or toasted) French baguette on each bowl of soup, and then put on top of the bread a couple of handfuls of grated "Swiss" cheese like Comté, Emmental, Beaufort, Abondance, or Gruyère.

Set the cheese-covered bowls of soupe chaude in a hot, hot oven — remember, the soupe itself is already hot — and wait a few minutes for the cheese to melt and the golden gratin to form. Take burning-hot bowls out of the oven very carefully and serve them steaming hot at the table. Eat the soup-softened bread, melted cheese, diced vegetables and meat, and the clear potée broth with a large soup spoon. Don't burn your mouth!