In 2014, I wrote:
“Until recently, I’ve never been really happy with using water instead of stock for the vegetarian soups; vegetable stock powder invariably gives a celery flavour to the whole soup, and to be honest, even when I’ve made vegetable stock, I’ve never been really happy with it.“
“However, I think I’ve found the answer, at least for mushroom soups. Dried Porcini absolutely transforms them. I’d never bothered with it until now because of the price. But recently I’ve been looking for things that help to lower my calorie intake and have been surprised; it’s not always the lower-calorie items that are best. For example, you get far more ‘bang for your buck’ from, say, high-calorie Stilton than a reduced-calorie cheese. Just try it: tiny pieces of Stilton will add flavour, whereas you’d need double the amount of the lower-calorie product. Well, when I was thinking along these lines, I also realised that the same applies to using very small amounts of expensive items, and there’s no doubt that Porcini is expensive: £60 – £80 per kilo, but if you only use 10 g it’s only 60p, or about 10p per bowl.“
That’s as true now as it was then; well, except that the price is £110 – £125 a kilo now!
Ingredients
500 g / 1 lb Mushrooms, sliced
300 g / 10 oz Maincrop Potatoes, peeled and chopped
300g / 10 oz Onions, peeled and chopped
10 g / ⅜ oz Porcini, dried
3 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 tsp Henderson’s relish, or ½ t Worcestershire sauce
10 g / ⅜ oz Salt
½ tsp Black pepper, ground – or to taste
1.5 L / 3 US pints Water – 250ml/½ pint for soaking the porcini and the other 1.25 L/2½ US pints to add to the soup later
2 -3 Tbsp Double/heavy cream (optional)
Method
Put the porcini in a bowl and pour 250 gm/ml / ½ US pint over them, and leave for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, sweat the vegetables in the oil: heat them in a pan and then cover them with a cartouche of parchment/baking paper and the pan lid. Sweat them for 15 – 20 minutes over the lowest heat. If you’ve not done this before, check regularly to make sure they’re not sticking.
Remove the parchment. Strain the liquid from the porcini, leaving the last bit in the bowl, as it may contain grit/sand. Add the liquid to the pan of veg. Chop the porcini and add it with the rest of the ingredients.
Bring it back to a boil and simmer it for 20 more minutes.
Liquidise it and add 2 -3 Tablespoons of double/heavy cream if desired. I don’t, as I prefer the cleaner taste without.
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