Pic of Mushroom and Madeira soup with thyme and truffle oil

Mushroom and Madeira soup with thyme and truffle oil

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Soups & stews

Mushroom and Madeira soup with thyme and truffle oil

Soup Serves 4 30 min
A creamy vegetarian soup bursting with earthy flavour. This calls for a few special ingredients, but if you don't have Madeira, sherry is a decent substitute; and though truffle oil makes the soup extra nice it isn't essential. Even more depth of flavour is given by 10g of dried porcini, soaked in water for 5 minutes then added with the fresh mushrooms.

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1-2 leeks, white part only, finely sliced
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 450-500g mushrooms, wiped and roughly sliced
  • ½ tsp nutmeg, ground or grated
  • leaves of 3 sprigs thyme
  • 800ml chicken or veg stock
  • 100-150ml Madeira, to taste
  • 100-150ml double cream
  • handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • few drops truffle oil (optional)
  • salt and pepper

Method

Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min

  • Step 1

    In a large pan, sweat the onion and leeks in the olive oil until soft.

  • Step 2

    Add the garlic and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are soft and reduced. Add the nutmeg and thyme and cook for another minute. Blend or process the mushroom mix with a ladle of stock until smooth. Return to the pan, add the remaining stock, Madeira and half the cream.

  • Step 3

    Reheat the soup and season. Adjust the thickness with more cream or water to taste. Stir in the chopped parsley. Serve with a further swirl of cream if you like and a few drops of truffle oil if using.