chestnut and mushroom soup
I’ve been a little lax in posting recipes on The Lisping Dog but for Christmas Eve I made this recipe from Food & Wine and I just had to share. I’m not a huge fan of chestnuts but my mom is so I found this recipe to please both of us. The chestnuts are very mild and add a sweet and earthy flavor to the mushrooms.
INGREDIENTS:
1oz of dried porcini mushrooms
4 cups of boiling water
4 tbsp of unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 medium leeks, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery rib, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced rosemary
1 1/2 cups peeled roasted vacuum-packed chestnuts (I found a 6.5oz package at Trader Joe’s)
3 cups chicken stock
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces fresh porcini or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
In a large heat-proof bowl, soak the porcini mushrooms in 4 cups of boiling water. You’ll be using the water to flavor the soup and the porcini pack a flavor wallop! It will take about 20 minutes to soften the mushrooms. When ready, strain the mushroom water through a sieve lined with a paper towel to catch the grit from the mushrooms. Pick the mushrooms out of the sieve and finely chop.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the chopped porcini mushrooms, white mushrooms, carrots, celery, leeks, and rosemary and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened and are beginning to brown – about 15 minutes. Add the chestnuts and the chicken stock. Stir up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot and then add 3 cups of the porcini soaking liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower to a moderate heat to simmer for 30 minutes.
Use a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender and process the soup, in batches if necessary, until it’s smooth. You can refrigerate or freeze this soup at this point to be reheated later.
Place the blended soup back into the pot over medium heat and add the heavy cream, stirring well to incorporate. While the soup is reheating, saute the sliced cremini mushrooms in more butter until they’re brown and slightly crispy.
To serve the soup, pour into individual bowls, drizzle with oil (I used a hot chili oil for a bit of punch that was quite good!) in a quick spiral motion, then gently top with the fried mushrooms. YUM!!