I like when recipes are coming out spontaneously, without too much thinking or effort. This Cream of Mushroom soup recipe wasn’t planned at all, but came out pretty perfect as a quick dinner idea.
I usually prefer soup in the evening, I think this is due to family’s habits. As long as I remember we always had soups in the evenings, unless it was Christmas. In that case we always had, and still have, my grandma’s Porcini Mushroom Soup. But that is something completely different.
This cream of mushroom soup is much faster and can become completely vegan, if you have any dairy allergies or if you just prefer coconut milk in your soups. Let’s say that the Italian vellutata soup in general requires milk or heavy cream, but you can choose whatever you prefer.
Cream of Mushroom Soup Ingredients
- Mushrooms mix: you can really go with any type of mushrooms here, but I recommend you to mix a few types. In this case I chose champignon mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms. If it’s easier for you to find Portobello mushrooms or Porcini mushrooms, that would work even better. Just make sure you use fresh mushrooms and not dry mushrooms.
- Leek: i love leek. it’s such a versatile ingredient. in this case i choose a small one in order not too overpower the taste of the mushroom
- Potatoes: they will help your soup to become creamy, especially if you chose a dairy free version
- Heavy cream, milk or coconut milk: choose one of them. I am a cream enthusiast, so I added cream into mine, but you don’t have to. Chose what goes better with your taste.
- Herbs: Parsley was my choice here, I wanted to give it a bit of freshness. Being the first time making this cream of mushroom soup I wanted to make sure the flavor would’t be too heavy overall.
- Extra-virgin olive oil, butter, salt, pepper and my homemade vegetable stock cubes
Instructions
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes45
minutesIngredients
150g Fresh Shimeji mushrooms
450g Fresh Champignon mushrooms
1 Leek
300g Potatoes
20g Extra-virgin olive oil
20g Butter
1L Water – or as much as needed to cover all the ingredients
50ml Heavy cream, milk or coconut milk
1 tuft Parsley
1 Vegetable stock cubes
Salt, pepper, nutmeg
Directions
- Cut your veggies.
Peel the potatoes and chop them into medium/small pieces. Clean the leek cutting off the green top, but not all of them, only the top tough part. Cut off also the roots, where the white part is. Slice the leek in half lengthwise and cut it into half moons. Peel the top layer of the champignon mushrooms’ hat. Cut off the bottom of the stem of both champignon and shimeji mushrooms. Quickly rinse them under running water.
- In a large pot heat the extra-virgin olive and butter over medium heat. Add the leek, and cook it for a few minutes. Add potatoes, mushrooms, water, salt, pepper and the homemade vegetable stock cube. Cover all the vegetable with water.
- Bring it to a boil and cook the cream mushroom soup for 40/45 mins. Transfer the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender to puree it. Add heavy cream and a pinch of grounded nutmeg.
- Let it rest for a bit and sprinkle with parsley before serving. You can also add croutons on top, if you’d like.
Notes
- Do you know when you cook something and it gets better the day after? this is one of those dishes. The flavor keeps being very delicate, but it gets fuller with time. I recommend you prepare this cream of mushroom soup the day before serving or the morning for the evening.
What to serve with cream of mushroom soup
I prefer to keep it simple when the flavors of the dish are very delicate. I personally find homemade croutons fitting perfectly this soup, but this isn’t a must, so feel free to enjoy your cream of mushroom soup carbs free, if you’d like!
Even though I am a big fan of soups, I always serve it with something else before or after it. It could be:
- Beef Stew with Red Wine – Italian Stufato
- Vegetarian Meatballs
- Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan and Béchamel Sauce
