Almost any vegetable lends itself to soup, however mushrooms give the soup a meaty quality whilst keeping the soup completely vegetarian. Substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock and drizzle with olive oil instead of crème fraiche for a vegan version.
Mushroom soup with a dollop of crème fraiche
Ingredients
- 15g dried procini
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 400g mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 200g oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
- Splash brandy
- 900ml chicken stock
- Flat leaf parsley
- Dollop of crème fraiche
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Soak the dried porcini in boiling water for 10 mins.
- In a heavy-based saucepan, gently sauté the onions with the garlic, carrot, celery and parsley in some olive oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the mushrooms
- Drain the porcini reserving the liquid and add the porcini to the pot.
- When the mushrooms are soft (approx. 8 mins), add the brandy and allow to simmer until the alcohol evaporates (a couple of mins).
- Cover the vegetables with the chicken stock and the reserved porcini water, taking care not to add any of the grit from the bottom and bring to the boil.
- Allow to simmer for approx. 30 mins.
- Remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
- Serve with a dollop or two of crème fraiche, a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh pepper.
