Isn’t soup the best?
Every iteration of its being fills me with unbridled joy. No matter what ingredients* go into the pot, soup always tastes delicious. Plus, they generally require minimal prep work – just chop some ingredients and fling them into a pot. The hardest part is the waiting. This mushroom soup from Deliciously Ella – The Plant-Based Cookbook (page 152) is no exception – it is easy and delicious!
The process…
Chopped red onion, sliced garlic, salt, and olive oil make up step number 1 – fry until soft. Easy peasy. Although, Ella’s recipe called for a mere 2 cloves of garlic – any established allium lover like myself will tell you that this number is woefully inadequate, regardless of what the recipe purports. So naturally, I took my dragon-breathed vampire-slaying fate into my own hands and doubled the cloves to 4. Much better.
Next, a hefty amount of chopped mushrooms of your choice are added. I went with chestnut mushrooms which I lovingly brushed clean with a small mushroom brush from Sous Chef. Feel free to use a selection of whatever mushrooms you can buy – I have previously made this soup with mixtures of porcini, shiitake, oyster, maitake, and portabello, in varying quantities. Anything goes!
Anyway, back to the pot – add cracked black pepper and dried thyme. Cover, occasionally stir. When soft, add bouillon powder (I bought mine from The Vegan Kind – Marigold brand) and water. Simmer. Blend. Season. Serve.
I topped my soup with oat cream, toasted hazelnuts (which I gave a little pound in the pestle and mortar), and some fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the stem. Ella suggested plain yogurt instead of cream, but I had some leftover from a New Years Day dessert and it seemed silly to waste it. (The dessert was sticky toffee pudding, if you’re curious. Say hi in the comments if you want the recipe!)
Yum, yum, yum!
I give this recipe 5 stars. It’s easy, it’s delicious. The ingredients are easy to find. There’s minimal prep and attention required.
We love to see it. (And eat it!)
Footnote
*That being said, I recently saw this tweet about having a soup party which is a highly chaotic idea (that I love) and will possibly lead to something so truly horrific that you might summon an eldritch horror. Partake at your own risk.
Also, when blending, feel free to use either an immersion blender or a proper one. Personally, I think the former does a great job with soups!
