Mushroom soup.
With a bit of a chill in the weather, there is nothing like a bowl of hot soup. This is my take on a tasty cream of mushroom soup. And its way better than any canned soup you can buy in grocery stores. I got a bunch of mixed mushrooms to build a more complexed flavor. One of the best things about a blended soup is that you can sneak in different kinds of root vegetables for some added fiber, just keep in mind not to use vegetables with overpowering flavors and colors.
The addition of cream is optional, because most blended soups seems creamy without it.
Serves 4 as an entrée or 6 as an appetizer.
Ingredients:
Soup:
1 red large onion, or 2 small, diced
1 large carrot, diced
500 g mixed mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small sprig rosemary, leaves only
3 sprigs thyme, leaves only
100 ml white wine
800 ml chicken stock
150 ml heavy whipping cream
lemon juice, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste
Topping:
150 g bacon, diced and crispy
parsley oil (Italian parsley + olive oil blended and drained)
Directions:
Fry the diced bacon crispy in a large pot. Put the crispy bacon bits on some kitchen towel to drain any excess fat.
Cook the onion and carrot in the leftover bacon fat. When the onions are translucent, add all the mushrooms, and let them cook and caramelize. Add thyme and rosemary. When the mushrooms has got some color and lost its liquid, deglaze the pot with the white wine. Pour in the chicken stock, and let the soup simmer for about 25 minutes. Let the whipping cream simmer in the soup for the last 5-10 minutes.
Blend the soup, with an immersion blender or in a regular blender.*
Season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve the soup with the topping.
Enjoy!
* Be careful when working with hot soup in a blender. If you need a new blender, consider a Vitamix. They are expensive, but they are worth all the money. They can liquefy almost anything and makes soup and margaritas so smooth and creamy. But the best part, you can blend hot soups without having to clean the soup of all your kitchen cabinets afterwards. Just saying. ;)