Mushroom Soup Revisited
This mushroom soup is a remake of one I made on Christmas Eve, based on a recipe from Jamie Oliver. Of course, with the lovely flowers popping up revisiting Christmas does feel odd!
I’d like to say I decided to make it again because I loved it so much. But in truth, I made it again since it disappeared before I could really taste it.
Because I often do a multi-course dinner for a good sized group, I am used to eating my own courses slightly late or out of sequence. In the case of the soup, there was a veritable charge back to the kitchen for seconds, so I decided to skip it entirely. I always eat too much at those dinners.
Every time I think of mushrooms, I remember back to my high school biology days. At that time, things like phytochemicals were not well known and people thought of food in terms of protein, fat and carbs (with a few vitamins thrown in). When the subject of fungi came up, my biology teacher announced that they had very little nutritional value—unless there happened to be a bug trapped in the gills, in which case you would get a bit of protein.
Today we know that they are a source of B vitamins, selenium, potassium, copper, iron, and phosphorus. And “in addition to providing basic nutrition, they help prevent chronic disease due to the presence of antioxidants and beneficial dietary fibers such as chitin and beta-glucans” (source Medical News Today).
The soup calls for “mixed” mushrooms, and the first time I did a combination of shitake and baby portabella. This time I used straight baby portabellas and my husband said he liked that even better. Since I bought those all pre-sliced, it really streamlined preparation. Of course now I’m dying to compare the two…
Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb mixed mushrooms
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped leeks 1 lg leek, shallots or onions
- 1/2 cup chopped celery about 2 stalks
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley stems and leaves, finely chopped
- 1 t dried thyme
- 5 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 t Worcestershire sauce
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup cream dairy or non-dairy
Instructions
- Slice the mushrooms finely. Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat and pour in a splash of olive oil. Add the onion, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme and mushrooms. Place a lid on top and sweat gently until softened.
- Pour the stock into the pan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove about 1/4 cup of mushrooms and set aside, then whiz with a hand-held blender until smooth.
- Pour in the cream and add back the reserved mushrooms, then bring just back to the boil. Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper,
Nutrition
- Homemade Egg Foo Young
- Ramp and Wild Mushroom Compound Butter
Gorgeous soup! I could feast on this daily.
I love soup Tammy! Need to see how this freezes I think.
hmm, simply damn delicious and comforting mushrooms soup dish!!!
Gotta love that comfort food!
I love this Inger ! Look beautiful!
Thanks Gloria!