Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup

DSC 0084 500x747 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup

I’ve already told you about our quack addiction. We managed to ease off a bit since the habit becomes a little costly and quite frankly, an overdose of quack isn’t the best for your health. But did I ever confess our addiction to ‘shrooms?

DSC 0069 499x334 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup
So long as we stick to the edible and non-hallucinogenic variety, an overdose of ‘shrooms is actually loaded with health benefits. They are an excellent source of potassium which helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. Did you know that a medium portabello mushroom has more potassium than a banana?
DSC 0061 500x746 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup
DSC 0114 499x334 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup

Medicinal mushrooms such as maitake and shitake have been known to boost heart health, lower the risk of cancer and improve the immune system. Research shows that mushroom cells contain mechanisms that suppress breast and prostate cancer. They also contain a natural insulin and enzymes that help break down sugars and starch in food. With its plethora of health benefits, mushroom addiction is certainly one habit that we won’t kick.

DSC 0093 2 500x746 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek SoupDSC 0132 2 500x747 Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup

Ingredients:

2 cup coarsely chopped portabello
2 cup coarsely chopped shiitake
1/2 cup maitake
1 1/2 cup beech mushrooms (I used both white and regular beech)
1 medium onion, diced
1 large shallot, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cup chopped leeks (white and light green parts)
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp red chili flakes
olive oil
salt & pepper
white truffle oil (optional)
  1. In a large pot, saute garlic with olive oil over low heat for about 3-5 minutes. Add onions and shallots. Turn up the heat to medium and saute until wilted. Add red chili flakes and thyme. Saute for two minutes then add leeks. Saute for another 5 minutes.
  2. Next, saute all the mushrooms in the same pot. Add more olive oil if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Once the mushrooms are tender, add the chicken broth, white wine and heavy cream. Mix thoroughly. When the mixture comes to a boil, turn down the heat to simmer. TIP: Set aside a few mushrooms for garnish.
  3. While the pot is simmering on the stove, use your hand blender to puree the mixture. If you don’t have a hand blender, transfer soup mixture in a regular blender and puree. Ladle soup into individual bowls and garnish with mushrooms, a slice of crostini and a drizzle of olive oil.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 12:14and is filed under Soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

26 Responses to “Cream of Wild Mushroom & Leek Soup”

Leave a Reply

Subscribe without commenting