martha moments: french onion soup in the crockpot

i love a crockpot. that's no news to you. there's just something fabulous about putting things into a wonderful pot, plugging it in, going to work and coming home knowing that dinner is READY. it's close to magical.

if you want this one for dinner, make sure to make it in the morning, as the total cook time is 8 hours.

this one's a keeper if you love french onion soup. (i do, i do!)

you'll need:

1 large sweet onion (Vidalias work great), thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
2 cans (14.5 oz each) of beef broth
2 Tablespoons sherry or additional beef broth if you don't want to use sherry
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 slices of French bread, toasted
4 slices of Provolone cheese

1. Spray the crockpot with cooking spray lightly, then place the sliced onions and butter in the pot. Cover and cook just the onion and butter on low for 6 hours or until the onion is tender.

2. Stir in broth, sherry and pepper. Cover and cook an additional 2 hours.

3. Ladle soup into serving bowls (oven safe, see below) and top with slice of toasted french bread and cheese.

4. I like to then pop the bowl into the oven under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese gets all bubbly.