Description
Made with fresh and/or dried mushrooms, Polish Mushroom Soup is so full of flavor!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1.3 pounds or 8 cups sliced (600g) fresh mushrooms or 2.5 – 3.5 ounces (70-100g) of dried mushrooms (that have been soaked in water for hours or overnight and drained, save the liquid)
- 1 large onion (140g)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 4 cups broth, vegetable, poultry, beef (1 liter)
- 4 small or 1 very large Russet potatoes – 1 pound (450g), optional if you’re adding pasta
- 2 large or 4 medium carrots – 1/2 pound (220g)
- a handful of fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- pasta cooked according to package directions (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the mushrooms and set aside. Dice the onion and add to a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of butter and the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until the onions are becoming translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. If you’re using all fresh mushrooms, you will need to cook in batches (until they shrink up a bit) or to use a very large frying pan.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, add the broth to a large pot. Peel and dice the potatoes (if you’re using them), peel and slice the carrots, add both to the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetable are tender (you should be able to easily insert a fork into them).
- Add the mushroom mixture, the dill, and the marjoram to the soup pot and simmer for 5 minutes. If you used dried mushrooms, you may add some of the soaking liquid now. I added 1 1/2 cups of the liquid to my soup. It makes the broth much darker and adds a lot to the flavor. Be careful not to add all of the liquid. There is often a little sand or grit from the dried mushrooms that settles to the bottom of the liquid. (You can always freeze the liquid and use it in other mushroom dishes.)
- To thicken the soup, in the mushroom pan, add a tablespoon of butter and the flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Slowly add 3 or 4 ladles of the soup broth, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the heavy cream. Add this to the soup, stirring or whisking until incorporated to slightly thicken the broth. Cook the soup for just a few more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. The amount of salt in your broth will determine the amount of additional salt needed.
- If you’ve chosen to add pasta, add cooked pasta to the bowls, then fill with soup.
Notes
To reconstitute dried mushrooms, add them to a tall vessel and cover with water for several hours or overnight. Place something, a glass or a bowl, on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged.
It’s normal for some grit to fall from the dried mushrooms as they’re soaking in water. When using the soaking liquid, you might want to “decant” it. Slowly pour it off, leaving some liquid and sediment in the container.
You could use sour cream instead of heavy cream, just be sure not to not to boil after adding the sour cream.
Some people like to add lemon juice or a small amount of white vinegar to make the soup tart.
Keywords: Polish mushroom soup, zupa grzybowa