Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of mushroom soup ranks #1 as my favorite. This recipe highlights the flavor of cremini mushroom, with a slight addition of sherry. For a garnish I added some crispy shallots and drizzled creme fraiche. This looks fancy, but can be on the table in 45 minutes!
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 small shallots sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried or fresh
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable or mushroom stock
- Kosher salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Golden Sherry optional, but makes this taste fantastic or dry white wine
- Creme fraîche for garnish
Instructions
- To make crispy shallots, cook in a thin layer of olive oil until golden (not too high of a heat, or they can easily burn). Remove when almost golden brown—they will carry over. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.
SOUP:
- In a Dutch Oven, heat a little bit of olive oil and butter, just enough for a thin coating. Cook the mushrooms for about 3 to 5 minutes, until golden. Set aside.
- Using the same pot, add a little more olive oil and sauté the sliced shallots until tender. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Season with a little kosher salt, pepper and dried thyme.
- Add the flour, stir and cook for about one minute.
- Return the mushrooms to the cooked shallots, add tomato paste, the sherry or wine (if using) and about 1 cup of the chicken stock. Stir to combine.
- All the remaining chicken stock and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Purée the soup in batches, carefully, in a blender. I prefer to use an immersion blender right into the pot, which is so much simpler!
- Purée to your liking, I leave small chunks of mushroom.
- Add the heavy cream/half-and-half.
- Serve with a dollop of creme fraîche and the crispy shallots on top.Edit my recipe