Cream of mushroom soup

Portabella mushrooms

This snap of spring time snow we’ve had around Canberra has left me wanting to make soup. I made the incredible roast capsicum soup yesterday, and then realised I wanted to make a creamy mushroom soup. I had half a bag of portabella and Swiss brown mushrooms in the fridge, a bunch of thyme I’d forgotten about, and a massive quantity of cream that will not entirely be used up in the making of clotted cream. Hazah! Let there be cream of mushroom soup. It’s very important to use portabella or field mushrooms for this recipe because they have the most flavour. Swiss browns are the next best thing.

Serves 2

500	grams	Portabella mushrooms
2	tablespoons	butter
1	teaspoon	fresh ground black pepper
2	tablespoons	verjuice or white wine
1/2	teaspoon	salt
1/2	cup	cream
2	cups	chicken or vegetable stock
2		bay leaves
1	bunch	thyme
1	tiny sprig	rosemary

Melt the butter in a medium sized frying pan. Break up the mushrooms so they in roughly equal sized pieces. Sautee the mushrooms in the frying pan till they are soft, dark and have a rich flavour and aroma. Add the pepper to the pan and deglaze with the verjuice. Turn off the heat when the verjuice has reduced a little. Tip the mushroom mix into the food processor with the cream and salt. Blend till there are only little brown flakes of mushroom left in the mixture.

Cream of mushroom soup

Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil with the herbs. Allow the stock to reduce by up to a third. Remove the herbs and discard. Add the mushroom mix. Stir, and season to taste. Garnish with a little extra cream and some fresh thyme leaves. Serve with hot buttered toast.