Chunky Mushroom Soup

For a couple of weeks now I've been eyeing some mushroom soup recipes. I love mushrooms so much I can probably have them everyday. One of my favourite mushroomy meals of all time is spinach and mushroom frittata which goes wonderfully with a cup of coffee on Saturday mornings.

I bought some fresh foccacia at the grocery store today and immediately wanted to head home, have some soup and bread, a glass of wine and work on my defense. In that vein, the soup had to be easy, quick and filling too. So in came the mushroom soup idea. There are tons of really great recipes out there, so I just fused a few and made my own using the herbs I know best. It turned out that the soup was really light - I used a teensy bit of corn flour and skim milk instead of heavy cream to make the soup thick and I think being able to chew on mushroom bits and biting into a piece of foccacia layered with cream cheese whilst sipping a glass of Chardonnay helped with bringing out the wonderful flavour of this soup. You can make the recipe vegan by using soy milk instead of skim milk.

Chunky Mushroom Soup
Serves 4, about 1 cup each

2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
2 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 medium sweet onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp skim milk
2 tbsp sherry or dry vermouth (optional)
1 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven on medium heat. Heating both the butter and olive oil will keep the butter from browning to quickly. Add the garlic and onions and saute until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add in mushrooms and saute for another 6 - 7mins until mushrooms are brown. Add in chicken or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and add in thyme, parsley, black pepper and vermouth. Cover and simmer for about 15 - 20 mins until mushrooms are soft. Add salt to taste.

Turn heat off and stir in 1/4 cup milk. In a small bowl, mix together corn flour and remaining milk and stir into soup. I find that using a food processor helps to pulse the mushrooms better than an immersion blender, but you can use either one.

You can serve with some grated Parmigiano or just plain.