I have become slightly obsessed with soups this winter.  Mainly because it has been absolutely freezing cold here in NYC over the past month.  And let’s not forget about the 3 snowstorms we have already had.  I am not a cold-weather-winter person.  At all.  Soups, however, make it all somewhat bearable.

In light of this obsession I have been scouring recipes for some interesting new soups to add to my repertoire.  I could not find one specific recipe that knocked me over, so I decided to create my own.  Ideally I like to pick a new soup each week and make a big pot of it.  I think having 5 excellent soups in the rotation would be ideal.  This mushroom soup is one of the five, for sure.

If you like mushrooms you will love this soup.  It is luscious and complex.  There is not one drop of cream in this soup so I hereby declare it healthy.  And if I can impress one thought upon you right now it would be this…do not skip the sherry!  And I wouldn’t skip the truffle oil either, come to think of it.  Without them this soup is just ok.  These two ingredients take this soup from average to outstanding.

Here’s what you will need to make a big pot that serves about 8-10…

Recipe

32 ounces of mushrooms, I use a mix of shiitake (sliced) and crimini (cut in half or quarters)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 large leek, white and light green part only, washed and sliced

6 cloves garlic, smashed

12-15 sprigs thyme, tied in a bundle

1 large Idaho potato, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

8 cups chicken stock

4 oz dry sherry

2 tsp white truffle oil

palmful of parsley leaves

salt & pepper

chopped parsley, for garnish

Method

In a large soup pot heat the olive oil and butter.  As the butter is melting add the bundle of thyme and stir it around in the butter and oil for a few seconds.  Add the onion, leek (wash really well, these suckers are very dirty!) and a pinch of salt & pepper.  Saute over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Next add the potato and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for one hour.  After 45 minutes of cooking add the parsley leaves, then allow to continue cooking for the remaining 15 minutes.  Remove thyme bundle.

Puree the mixture with an immersion blender (love this tool!) or in a blender or food processor until smooth.  As you can see from the photo above, I do not puree this soup into oblivion, I like the rusticity of a few small pieces of mushroom every now and again.  Those types of things don’t get me upset.

Once the mixture is pureed (to the consistency of your choosing) add the sherry and truffle oil and stir with a spoon to combine.  As I mentioned above, please don’t skip these last two ingredients.  Trust me.

Recipe inspired by various sources.