Whit's Mushroom Soup

A mishmash of other mushroom soup recipes found on thekitchn.com

Difficulty Level: Medium Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 20-30m Cook Time: 45m
Recipe Type Main Dish Cuisine American, French Ingredients Beef

Submitted by Whit

Oven Coven Original

Ingredients

2 large white or yellow onions, sliced thin
2 T salted butter
2 T good olive oil
kosher salt
2 c dried mixed mushrooms
6 c boiling water
3 large celery stalks, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 c pearled farro, rinsed
12 oz fresh cremini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 c Marsala wine, plus 2 tsp
1 qt beef broth
1 bay leaf
several sprigs fresh thyme, rosemary, and oregano, tied with kitchen twine
1-2 hard cheese rinds (optional)
1/4 c heavy cream

Nutritional Information

Heck if I know!

Directions

Start with the butter and oil in a large Dutch oven and caramelize the thin-sliced onions, turning occasionally over medium heat. Place the dried mushrooms in a large, heat-safe bowl and pour 6 cups of boiling water over them, stirring occasionally. While the onions caramelize and your mushrooms reconstitute, prep your remaining ingredients.

Add the celery and carrots and sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and farro and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cremini mushrooms and the 1/2 cup Marsala and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the mushrooms have released some of their liquid.

Meanwhile, strain the dried mushrooms through cheesecloth, reserving the liquid. Coarsely chop the mushrooms (I leave them in the colander and roughly chop with kitchen shears) and add them to the pot, along with the strained muchroom broth, beef broth, herb bundle, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, add your cheese rinds, and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes, until the farro is tender. Discard the herbs and cheese rinds and turn off the heat.

Slowly stir in the heavy cream and additional Marsala, then taste for seasoning.

Notes

You could easily thicken this with flour or another thickener and the recipes I cobbled this together from recommend that, either after sautéing the veg until softened or by making a roux and adding it at the end. I did none of that and the texture was thinner, but not watery, by any means.
The recipes I used also didn't call for the onions to be caramelized and that certainly would speed up the cooking, but I sautéed 1/2 with the celery and carrot and caramelized the other half and in the future I will caramelize them all, for sure.