It’s been ages since I’ve made a soup worth sharing (there was an epic fail about a month ago that turned me off any new soup attempts for a while) so l delighted to report that I’ve finally got a keeper—this wonderfully flavorful and warming, Hearty Mushroom Soup. What a triumph!

If you’re thinking Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup—nope, this is miles away from that (though I still sometimes crave that bowl of artificial mushroom creaminess). Instead, this is a full bodied vegetarian version that is intensely mushroom-y in the best way. That’s because you use both fresh and dried mushrooms.🍄🍄

And added to all those mushrooms are lots of onions, garlic, white beans, fresh thyme, soy sauce, Parmesan, plenty of black pepper and just the tiniest splash of heavy cream.

Everything gets puréed into a lusciously smooth texture making every bite a party for your mouth!

Maybe not the most gorgeous of dishes but that’s not what you’ll be thinking as you slurp up spoonful after spoonful!

Hearty Mushroom Soup

Makes at least 6 generous servings

It really helps to have an immersion blender for this.

Prep Time: About an hour, but a lot of this is hands-free time

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

• 2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

• One 1 ounce package of dried mushrooms ( I used shitake)

• 4 cups boiling water

• 2 pounds cremini mushrooms (you could use other wild mushrooms too), no need to cut them up

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

• One 15 ounce can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained

• Black pepper

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream

The Recipe

1. In a large deep pot, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and let cook, stirring every now and then until softened, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile fill a kettle and bring it to a boil. When the onion mixture is softened add in the thyme and dried mushrooms and the boiling water. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to plump up. Cover the pot, remove from the heat and let sit 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile. melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over high heat and sear the fresh mushrooms in batches till they get crispy and golden on the outside to bring out their flavor, removing the cooked ones as they’re done—you don’t want to crowd the pan or they’ll steam. Repeat the process, adding more butter and mushrooms as you go. Season the cooked mushrooms with the salt and set aside.

3. Remove and discard the sprigs of thyme from the dried mushroom-broth mixture and add the beans. Now puree the mixture with the immersion blender until completely smooth. Stir in the cooked mushrooms and process again until you get a consistency you like—you can make it totally smooth or leave chunks of mushrooms. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, a good amount of black pepper, the soy sauce and parmesan and taste. Add more of anything you think you need and then stir in the heavy cream. Reheat the pot gently and serve. This is great on a cold night with a slice or two of crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Every Day is Saturday by Sarah Copeland. I tinkered with ingredients and proportions.