Three mushroom soup with truffle oil

By: Amanda Ruben
From: Feasting
Serves: 6–8
Photographer: Elisa Watson

My mum gave a lot of cooking lessons and demonstrations over the years and this dish was always on the list of things she taught. It’s a heartwarming, healthy winter soup made extra luxurious with the truffle oil. If truffles aren’t your thing, drizzle with some tahini instead.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
100g	porcini mushrooms
90ml	olive oil
1	brown onion, finely diced
1	garlic clove, finely diced
2	celery stalks, finely diced
1	leek, finely diced
500g	swiss brown mushrooms, roughly chopped
500g	field mushrooms, roughly chopped
500g	button mushrooms, roughly chopped
5	thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon	salt
1/4 teaspoon	freshly cracked black pepper
	truffle oil, for drizzling
3 tablespoons	chopped flat-leaf (italian) parsley, to garnish

Mushroom stock

Quantity	Ingredient
1 tablespoon	olive oil
2	carrots, roughly chopped
1	onion, roughly chopped
3	celery stalks, roughly chopped
6	tomatoes, roughly chopped
20	swiss brown mushrooms, roughly chopped
10	whole dried shiitake mushrooms
	sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Method

To make the mushroom stock, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and shiitake mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes, then cover with 2.5 litres (85 floz/10 cups) water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium–low and simmer for 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper, then strain the stock through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean saucepan, and discard the vegetables.
Add the porcini mushrooms to 250 ml (8½ floz/1 cup) boiling water and set aside for 20 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, celery and leek and cook for 15 minutes, until soft and caramelised.
Drain and roughly chop the porcini mushrooms, then add to the stockpot with the rest of the mushrooms. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the thyme and cook for a further 5 minutes to release its flavour.
Pour enough stock into the pot to just cover the mushrooms and stir well. Cook for approximately 40 minutes, topping up the stock if necessary to keep the mushrooms covered. Stir in the salt and pepper, then take off the heat.
Allow the soup to cool slightly before pouring half into a blender. Blend until creamy, then pour it back into the remaining soup before giving it a final stir.
Serve in individual bowls, drizzle each bowl with the truffle oil and garnish with the parsley.