Fresh Mushroom Soup Recipe

This fresh mushroom soup recipe has few ingredients and is a cinch to prepare. Yet despite the simplicity, you’ll find that it’s still full of flavor!

One of the keys to the great taste here is the length of the cooking time. The mushrooms need time to simmer, so I’d recommend heating it for at least an hour. Don’t let the long cooking time turn you off; this is one of the most versatile and delicious easy mushroom recipes around.

This soup is a great opportunity to use your fresh wild mushrooms. Their flavor really comes through without a lot of other ingredients getting in the way.

Recommended mushrooms: All edible mushrooms. Cremini, portobello, white buttons, porcini, and shiitake all work great. Or you can use your finds from a day of mushroom hunting and make a yummy wild mushroom soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 4 cups stock (chicken, vegetable, or whatever)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of parsley

Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and slice them into medium-sized pieces.

Melt 2 tbsp of butter or olive oil in a deep soup pot on medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.

Melt the other tbsp of butter/olive oil and add the mushrooms. Sauté the entire thing for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This is not the most ideal mushroom sauté, as the pan will be a little crowded. However, everything should still be sufficiently browned after the 10 minutes.

Add the parsley and stock. Bring the entire thing to a low simmer and cook for about an hour. I know, it’s a long wait, but it’s worth it. You don’t need to baby-sit it, just stir occasionally and don’t let it boil.

If the taste isn’t strong enough at the end of the hour let it simmer longer and reduce a little more. Many people like to blend it with an immersion blender or puree in a food processor when it’s done. This gives a great texture, but I’m often too lazy for this step and just go straight to serving!

Variations:

• Add a few ounces of sherry or white wine at the very end.
• Add a teaspoon of another favorite herb, but not too much. We don’t want to cover the mushroom taste.
• This is a fresh mushroom soup recipe, but adding dried mushrooms will impart a deeper flavor. Simply rehydrate a cup of dried mushrooms for 20 minutes with 2 cups of boiling water. Then add them in, along with some of their soaking liquid, when you add the stock.