French Onion Patty Melts on Rye

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Everything good about a bowl of French onion soup — deeply caramelized onions, a splash of sherry, thyme, and melty Gruyère — pressed into a griddled rye sandwich around a thin, crusty beef patty. The onions take about 40 minutes of mostly hands-off stirring, the patties take four, and the whole thing comes together in one skillet on a Friday night. Eat it with your hands, over a paper towel, immediately.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 1/2 lb yellow onions (about 4 large), halved and thinly sliced
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (or dry white wine)
• 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 1/4 lb ground beef, 80/20
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pinch black pepper

• 8 slices seeded rye bread
• 8 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter with the oil in a 12-inch skillet (cast iron or heavy stainless) over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and 3/4 teaspoon salt — the pan will be heaped full. Cook, stirring every few minutes, for 10 minutes, until the onions collapse to about half their volume.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the thyme sprigs, and continue cooking for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes and scraping the brown film off the bottom of the pan as it forms. The onions should go from blond to a deep mahogany brown. If they start to scorch, add a tablespoon of water and lower the heat.
3. Pour in the sherry and scrape hard to release the fond; let it cook off for 1 minute. Add the beef broth and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, until the onions are glossy and jammy with no loose liquid in the pan. Discard the thyme stems, taste for salt, and scrape the onions into a bowl. Wipe the skillet clean.
4. Whisk the mayonnaise, Dijon, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire, and a pinch of pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
5. Divide the ground beef into 4 loose portions (about 5 oz each). Working on a sheet of parchment, press each into a thin rectangle roughly the size of your bread slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Season both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Do not compact the meat more than necessary.
6. Heat the wiped skillet over medium-high until a drop of water skitters, about 2 minutes. Cook the patties in two batches, 2 minutes per side, until deeply browned and just cooked through. Transfer to a plate and pour off all but a thin film of fat.
7. Build the sandwiches: spread Dijon sauce on the unbuttered side of all 8 bread slices. On 4 slices, layer a small handful of Gruyère, a patty, a generous quarter of the onions, then another handful of Gruyère. Top with the remaining bread, sauce side down. Butter the outsides of each sandwich generously, about 1/2 tablespoon per face.
8. Wipe the skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Griddle two sandwiches at a time, 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula, until the rye is crisp and deep golden and the Gruyère has visibly melted at the edges. If the bread browns before the cheese melts, cover the pan for 1 minute.
9. Transfer to a cutting board, let rest 1 minute so the cheese sets slightly, then cut each on the diagonal and serve hot with pickles.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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