Unveiling the Secrets of Sumptuous Creamy Mushroom Soup

Here’s a more casual and easy-to-follow version of your creamy mushroom soup recipe:

First, let’s gather our ingredients. You’ll need:

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 16 ounces of thinly sliced mushrooms (don’t forget to remove the stems!)
• 1 or 2 minced shallots
• 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of white wine (Chardonnay works great)
• 3 cups of broth (I’ll tell you how to make a quick homemade mushroom broth later)
• 1/2 to 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon of salt (plus more to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme (about 1 sprig)

For the peppery torn homemade croutons, you’ll need:

• 1/2 loaf of sourdough bread
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Now, let’s get cooking!

1. Start by preparing the croutons and set them aside for later.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallots and sauté them for about 10 minutes until they’re soft, fragrant, and delicious. Then, add the garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the flour and stir until everything is coated. It’ll be very thick and dry at this point. Slowly add the wine, letting the mixture loosen up. Then, slowly add the broth, stirring to form a smooth-ish soup.
4. Add the cream, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Don’t let it boil, but if you can, let it hang out over very low heat (or even off heat) for a bit. The flavors get better with just a little time to sit. But if you can’t wait (I often can’t), it’s also super delicious right here, right now, straight out of the pot.
5. Serve the soup with the croutons on top.

A quick note on the broth: If you have a couple of extra minutes, make your own mushroom broth! It adds a nice, delicate but rich flavor to the soup. Just add your mushroom stems, 2 roughly chopped carrots, 1 roughly chopped onion, and 1 teaspoon of salt to a pot. Cover with 4 cups of water and simmer for about 30 minutes. Then, drain and reserve the liquid and discard the solids. Yum!

Another note on the flour: Depending on your type of mushrooms, how they were stored, or how they were washed, you may end up with some extra liquid in your pot. In that case, you’ll either need to drain that off, or add a bit more flour to get the base of the soup thick enough to build a creamy soup. If you add the flour and it doesn’t look thick and sticky, I would add 1-2 tablespoons more flour and then just use more liquid to thin it out as needed later.

Enjoy your homemade creamy mushroom soup!