Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
2 servings
- Porcini mushrooms 200 g
- Carrot 1
- Onion 1
- Potato 1
- Vermicelli 3 tbsp (25 g)
- Parsley 3–4 sprigs
- Water 1 l (plus 0.5 l to blanch the mushrooms)
- Salt to taste
- Black peppercorns 4–5
- Allspice berries 1–2
- Bay leaf 1
Step-by-step recipe
Porcini
Which mushrooms to use is up to you. But I do insist on fresh porcini. Only they give you such a tasty, clear mushroom broth that tickles your nose. Porcini are called “white mushrooms” in Ukrainian not because their flesh is white, but because they don’t darken when cooked. They’re perfect for boiling.
Wash the porcini, cut out any worm holes (it happens, though rarely) and clean off pine needles, leaves and soil.
Cut the mushrooms into large pieces, about 3 cm.
Bring half a liter of water (500 ml) to a boil and add the mushrooms. As soon as it comes back to a boil, wait 1 minute (or even less) and drain.
Strictly speaking, you can skip this: the first cooking liquid holds most of the flavor and aroma. But then the broth will be dark. At the very least, you can just pour boiling water over the mushrooms briefly. Again, this step is up to you.
Broth and vegetables
In a pot, bring 1 liter of water to a boil. Add a little salt, a bay leaf, 1–2 allspice berries and 4–5 black peppercorns.
Better not to grind the pepper so it doesn’t overpower the other flavors. The pepper should only set off the taste and aroma of the broth.
As soon as the water boils, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
Peel the onion, carrot and potato. Cut all the vegetables into large, even cubes, half the size of the mushroom pieces.
After 5 minutes, add all the vegetables to the pot. Cook for 15 minutes from when it returns to a boil. The potato will be done, and if the carrot seems a bit firm, cook a little longer.
You’ll often see advice to fry the onion and carrot in vegetable oil first. That’s perfectly fine, but I prefer simply boiled soup vegetables. Also, I wouldn’t add parsley root, celery root and so on to the broth: they’re too aromatic, and in general, keep the spices to a minimum!
Vermicelli
Season the broth with salt to taste, but don’t overdo it. Add the finest vermicelli you can find to the soup. Fine Italian vermicelli is ideal; it cooks in about 3 minutes.
As soon as the vermicelli is cooked, add finely chopped parsley (leaves only). Take the soup off the heat right away.
Serving
Serve the soup immediately, while hot.
Calories and macros
165 kcal
Serving ≈ 720 g
- Protein6 g15% of kcal
- Fat1 g6% of kcal
- Carbs29 g79% of kcal
100 g23 kcalProtein 0.8 gFat 0.1 gCarbs 4 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
To Get It Right
Which porcini to choose
For mushroom soup I always set aside one or two porcini with dark caps. The mushrooms should be fresh, just picked and not yet processed in any way: that’s how you get a clear, fragrant broth.
If all you have is button mushrooms
Mushroom soup made with store-bought mushrooms turns out just as good if you add a few dried porcini while cooking: they bring the aroma. There are also separate recipes for button mushrooms: mushroom and vegetable soup and cream of mushroom soup.
Without vermicelli
You can leave the vermicelli out: the mushroom soup is tasty without it too, and readers make it that way. Then take the soup off the heat as soon as the vegetables are done and add the parsley straight away.
Making it ahead
Vermicelli keeps swelling in hot mushroom soup, so the soup is best eaten right away. If you’re making it for tomorrow, cook the vermicelli separately and add it straight to the bowl.
Have your own trick for this recipe?
Questions and answers
How long do you cook porcini in soup?
About 25 minutes: 5 minutes for the mushrooms alone in the broth, then 15 minutes with the vegetables and about 3 more with the vermicelli. Before that, you can drop the mushrooms into boiling water for a minute and drain.
Can you make this soup with frozen porcini?
Yes. Mushrooms frozen raw keep their aroma best. There’s no need to thaw them: just leave them out of the fridge for 30–40 minutes, and they’ll soften enough to slice easily.
Can you make this soup with slippery jacks or bay boletes?
Yes, with the same recipe, but the soup will turn out different: the same recipe made with different mushrooms tastes completely different. Porcini give the lightest, clearest broth because they don’t darken when cooked.
How do you bring out the mushroom flavor in soup?
Don’t mask it: keep spices to a minimum, use whole peppercorns, and skip parsley and celery root. More flavor stays if you don’t drain the first cooking liquid, but the broth will be darker.