Here’s the next recipe. I went soup again. But this time, I went all vegetarian. If not for the parmesan rinds, it would be vegan. And I think you could substitute two tablespoons of soy sauce for each rind and get pretty darned close to what you have here.
I love mushrooms. I love cream of mushroom soup. One of my favorite specialty recipes when I was young (sub-twelve) was to make an omelette and then spoon some warmed cream of mushroom soup overtop of it as a sauce. I had breakfast game pre-12. Mushrooms were the reason.
For this soup I wanted to find a way to recreate and then elevate my Campbell’s memories. Mission accomplished.
Ingredients
- Parmesan Rinds (4)
- 2 Packages Creminis
- 1 Package Baby Bellas
- 1 Package Shitakes
- 1 Package Chanterelles
- 1 Package Oyster
- Olive Oil
- Bay Leaves (2)
- Truffle Salt
- Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Truffle Oil (may be overkill; or a nice touch on top)
Directions
- Clean the mushrooms. Probably the biggest pain. Clean them all.
- Make the mushroom stock. Put 1/2 of all the mushrooms in a stock pot. Add 2 tablespoons of truffle salt. 4 tablespoons of olive oil. 2 Parmesan rinds. 1 tablespoon of black pepper. 1 tablespoon garlic powder. And then cover all of that with water so the water is level with the top of the mushrooms in the pot. Bring to a simmer and then keep it going for 45 minutes. (This is a good place to add butter if you’d like but I don’t think you’d need it.)
- Lightly coat the bottom of the crock pot with olive oil. Add 1 cup of water. Toss in the remaining mushrooms, parmesan rinds, and the bay leaves and start cooking on low heat.
- After the stock is completed, split it. Put half directly into the crock pot. Blend half at high speed (Vitamix is clutch here.) Make sure the parmesan rinds are in the blender. This will effectively cream and turn into the base for your soup. Pour that half into the crock pot as well.
- Look at your soup and its consistency. Add water to get you to your desired consistency. I’m going to say 1 cup additional minimum. If you want fewer actual mushrooms (I wanted my soup hearty), blend more of the mushrooms.
- Turn the crock pot up to high and let this cook for 2.5 hours minimum. The soup itself will cook through all of the mushrooms beautifully though you may want to stir this a few times to turn the soup mixture over. Taste it. If you want or need more salt, pepper, or garlic, add it.
When it’s done, you’re done. And it is beautiful. Silky. Earthy. Rich. But guiltless. In the picture I topped it with some shredded parmesan but it’s absolutely not necessary.
Suneet Bhatt 