Do you love mushrooms? I do!
Whenever I make this soup I am often asked for the recipe. You will be surprised how easy it is to make. I love how simple recipes can taste complex.
You can make this soup a day in advance of when you want to serve it. This gives the soup some time to develop great flavours. And if you really want to up your soup into pretentious (but deliciousness), drizzle a few tiny drops of truffle oil over the soup just before serving. And please do not omit the dried wild mushrooms, they are loaded with earthy flavour and are an essential to this soup. I use a mix of dried porcini, oyster and shiitake. You can usually find dried mushrooms in the produce section in small packages.
So, invite some friends over and enjoy this soup with people you love!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil or butter, a bit more if needed or a mix of both - if you want to keep if vegan omit the butter
1 ½ pounds of brown mushrooms or a variety of mushrooms
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrots, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup dried mushrooms, covered and soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
5 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Chives or flat leaf parsley for garnish
a big splash of sherry to taste
truffle oil a few drops to garnish, optional
Directions
In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.
Then add the fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms (with the water they were soaking in, taking care not add any of the dirt which may be in the bottom), carrots and more oil or butter if necessary.
Let the mixture cook over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes taking care that the onion doesn’t take on any brown colour.
Stir in the water and bring to a boil.
Immediately reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for about an hour.
Let soup cool for a few minutes then transfer to a blender or food processor and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do this in stages and remember to hold the blender lid down.
When blended, return the mix to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring up to a simmer again. Add the sherry, mix well, and serve immediately with a drizzle of truffle oil and a sprinkle of fresh chives.
Cooks Notes
I do not blend the whole pot of soup, I do about half the soup as I like my soup to have some texture and some sliced mushrooms to bite into.
I like to make this soup a day ahead, I find the flavours more intense. But it is delicious the same day too.