Wild Mushroom Soup

This is where my budget friendly meals temporarily end.

I felt the need to splurge on this recipe because a) I love the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, b) I love mushrooms, and c) soup and bread make a perfect winter supper.

How much of a splurge was this dish? Well, I think I paid close to $20 just for the mushrooms alone ($4 each for the wild mushrooms $2.50 each for the button and criminis, and $6 for the dried porcini). Worth it!

Wild Mushroom Soup, from Jamie Oliver

2 packages wild mushrooms, chopped

2 packages button and/or crimini mushrooms (aka "baby bellas"), chopped

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

7-8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked from stems

4 cups vegetable stock

1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp mascarpone cheese (or greek yogurt, sour cream, creme fraiche, etc)

juice and zest of 1 lemon

French baguette or other bread

In a bowl, add 2 cups boiling water to dried porcinis and let sit for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Reserve liquid and strain it through a coffee filter if it's gritty.

In a large soup pot, heat 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and same amount of butter over medium high heat.

Reserve a handful of wild mushrooms for garnish and put all the rest (wild, button, crimini, and reconstituted porcinis) in the pot to cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, onion, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until mushrooms are cooked and onion is soft.

Add stock and porcini liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to let the flavors mix together. In batches, puree soup in food processor or blender (or use an immersion blender).

For your garnish, quickly fry reserved handful of wild mushrooms in a tiny splash of olive oil. Mix with a little bit lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a bit of parsley.

Add the mascarpone to your soup with the rest of the lemon zest, juice, and parsley and remove the soup from the heat.

Serve soup with grilled bread, fried mushroom garnish, a bit more mascarpone cheese, and more salt and pepper if needed.

ONE YEAR AGO: The Rustler Pizza

TWO YEARS AGO: Frittata