Creamy mushroom soup
| Servings | 6 |
|---|---|
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cooking time | 1 hour |
This is a wonderful, creamy mushroom soup that's perfect for autumn and winter. Use a mixture of whatever mushrooms you can find – basically, you can't go wrong, and more mushrooms means more flavour!
This recipe is vegetarian-friendly if using vegetable stock. Substitute the double cream for a plant-based alternative if you want to make it vegan-friendly too.
Equipment
- Stick blender
Ingredients
- 20g dried porcini mushrooms
- 600g mixed mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, chestnut etc.)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 25g butter
- 1 small onion
- 1 handful of fresh thyme leaves
- 1000ml vegetable or chicken stock
- 150ml double cream
- 1 lemon
Directions
- Place the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Set to one side and leave to soak.
- Wash the mushrooms and chop into bite-size chunks. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Heat a large pan with the olive oil and butter, then add the onion, garlic, and thyme leaves. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the onion just starts to brown, then tip in the mushrooms.
- Remove the porcini from the soaking water and add to the pan. Also add the water they were soaking in – pass it through a sieve or a muslin first, as it may contain some grit from the mushrooms. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has disappeared and the mushrooms are starting to brown.
- Add the stock, then bring to the boil and reduce to a gentle simmer.
- Use a stick blender to purée the soup just a little bit. Don't overdo it – you aren't going for mushy mushrooms here, and you still want plenty of texture. Leave for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the double cream along with the zest and juice of the lemon. Stir to combine, then season to taste and serve – ideally with a swirl of cream and a sprinkle of thyme on top.