Cream of Mushroom and Chestnut Soup
ThermoHubby John and I love mushrooms. We love the woody taste and we love how versatile mushrooms are. Even better, it appears that mushrooms are a super food to keep you young. And they are a source of selenium, which protects our skin from sun damage. Cool š
One of our favourite ways to eat mushrooms is simply twice-cooked in olive oil and a bit of butter, with some salt and pepper and a few sprigs of fresh tarragon. Just sautĆ© them in olive oil until they release their liquid, transfer to absorbent paper to drain, then sautĆ© again in a knob of butter until just browned and crispy. Superb! Another favourite mushroom recipe is this luscious Cream of Mushroom and Chestnut Soup, a deep and earthy combination of two fabulous autumn foods. I’m particularly attached to this recipe because I can make it with mushrooms and chestnuts that I have foraged myself!
- 30 g dried mushrooms
- 500 g boiling water
- 2 garlic cloves
- 30 g olive oil
- 1 large onion or 2 medium shallots
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
- several grinds of black pepper
- 500 g fresh mushrooms, such as chestnut, porcini or white button
- 100 g vacuum packed chestnuts
- 600 g chicken or vegetable stock
- 125 g single cream
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 25 g dried mushrooms
- 400 g boiling water
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 25 g olive oil
- 1 medium onion or 2 small shallots
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
- several grinds of black pepper
- 400 g fresh mushrooms, such as chestnut, porcini or white button
- 80 g vacuum packed chestnuts
- 500 g chicken or vegetable stock
- 100 g single cream
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- Chives or tarragon to garnish
- Place the dried mushrooms in a small mixing bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak.
- Peel the garlic 4 seconds/Speed 4 1/2 / Reverse blade function. Remove skins and tip out peeled cloves.
- Weigh chestnuts and fresh mushrooms into TM bowl. Chop 10 seconds/Speed 5 using the Thermomix spatula through the hole in the lid to ensure all the ingredients reach the blades. Tip out and reserve; there's no need to wash the bowl.
- Add oil, garlic and onion or shallot to TM bowl and chop 3 to 4 seconds/Speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula and sautĆ© 100Ā° C/5 minutes/Speed Spoon.
- Drain the rehydrated mushrooms (reserve the liquid), add them to TM bowl and chop 5 seconds/Speed 4. You will note the soft start from your hot bowl.
- Add reserved chopped fresh mushrooms and chestnuts, salt and pepper, stock and strained mushroom liquid. Cook 100Ā° C/8 minutes/Speed 2.
- Blend 30 seconds/Speed 8. Add cream and lemon juice and cook 100Ā° C/4 minutes/Speed 2.
- Mix 5 seconds/Speed 4, then serve in warm bowls and garnish if desired with chopped chives or tarragon.
- The dried mushrooms in this recipe really add depth of flavour to this earthy soup, and the lemon juice lifts the entire soup to new levels. The chestnuts soften the combined effect and add a voluptuousness to this super soup.
So glad you liked this delicious Mushroom and Chestnut Soup, Gemma! Even without the added depth of dried mushrooms, the taste with a selection of mushrooms is lovely, isn’t it? Thanks for your comment and happy Thermomix cooking. See you back again soon!
Thank you so much for this recipe. We have a big bowl of chestnuts fresh from our garden, so made this soup last night – it was absolutely delicious!! Our local supermarket didn’t have dried mushrooms (we live in a small country town) so we substituted that with a tray of some exotic mushrooms, and it was still lovely. I’ll definitely be making this whenever our chestnut tree lets us. Thanks again
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Lesley. This is a truly delicious soup and I hope you enjoyed it. Since the capacity of the TM5 bowl is 10% greater than the TM31 bowl, it is very important not to overload your TM31 for blending soups and such, and I thought it would be useful to give quantities for both. I’m happy you think so, too š
Going to try this over the weekend – sounds delicious. I do appreciate that you do quantities for both models of Thermomix.