Few things are more comforting that soup. This one is one of my favorites as it pairs the richness of dried mushrooms with fresh mushrooms and soft rich polenta mixed with a generous amount of parmsean cheese and butter. It remains a favorite in my home as it comes together pretty quickly and can be made on a week night. It’s a bowl of warm, filling, rich tastiness that’s perfect on the cold and wet nights here in North Texas.
Mushroom Soup with Polenta. Adapted from The New Soup Bible
Soup Ingredients:
1 cup dried mushrooms (any variety will do)
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup butter
1 large red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced. (I used shiitake because the chinese market by my house sells them cheap)
1 carton chicken stock (I think they are 32oz)
Water (if needed, sometimes-depending on mushroom variety it just needs more liquid)
1/2 cup red wine
2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 pint cream or half and half
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsely.
For the Polenta:
3 cups milk
1 cup instant polenta
1/2 cup butter
1 cup parmesan cheese.
In the warm water, soak the mushrooms as you chop the rest of the ingredients. They should soak for at least 30 min, longer is better. Once rehydrated drain, reserving the liquid squeezing out any excess moisture. Chop roughly.
In a large pot melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add all of the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have reduced in size by about half and are slightly golden.
Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan and let simmer for a few minutes. Then add in the stock and if needed the extra water. Set to boil. Continue cooking until the liquid has reduced by 1/3.
Remove from heat and scoop out about a third of the mushrooms, and with an immersion blender process the remaining soup until smooth. Return the rest of the mushrooms to the pot and keep on low heat while you prepare the polenta. The soup will be very thick so be sure to stir frequently. Stir in the mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste.
In another pot, bring the milk to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta stirring quickly to ensure no lumps form. Once the polenta comes together, and starts to pull away from the pot a bit stir in the butter and cheese.
Once the polenta is finished. Add the cream to the soup and bring back to a boil quickly. Remove from heat. Ladle the soup over the polenta and garnish with the parsley.
Spoon polenta into a bowl, laddle soup over top and garnish with parsley.
Not the best picture, but it’s soup. I typically end up with Soft Polenta with Mushroom Soup, instead of the other way around. I love polenta. I mean corn with butter and cheese-so what’s not to love!
