Easy Creamy Mushroom Soup

Submitted by Sharon123

"This soup turned out nice and creamy and full of flavor! I hope you enjoy this easy to make soup! Made for RSC contest, Feb. 2010!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb white button mushrooms, diced
• 1⁄2 lb portabella mushroom, diced (baby bellas are good or use a mix of portobello and shitake)
• 4 -5 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons scallions, sliced thin
• 3 roasted garlic cloves, minced (roast whole bulb of garlic wrapped in foil in 350*F. oven 1 hr)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1⁄2 lemon, juice of
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄2 cup whole milk (or half and half)
• 1⁄2 cup cream cheese, softened (low fat-neufchatel is good)
• 1 1⁄2 - 2 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbls. water
• parsley, chopped, to garnish
• smoked paprika (optional)
• dry sherry (optional)

directions

1. Dice and chop vegetables.
2. Melt butter in a high sided large saute pan. Lightly saute scallions about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, roasted garlic, thyme, bay leaf and lemon juice and zest; saute over medium heat 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, cream, whole milk, cream cheese and stock; bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Add cornstarch that has been dissolved in 1 tbls. water to soup, continue to simmer 10 more minutes, stirring continually until soup is desired consistency and mushrooms are tender.
4. Adjust seasoning to taste. Remove bay leaf.
5. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
6. If you like, sprinkle a dash of smoked paprika and a splash of sherry into each bowl. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Katzen]

Oh gosh, Sharon, this is a real treat!!! And, you made it from a set of ingredients in an RSC contest?? I would have thought this was created by some master chef, it's so delicious! I can honestly say that this is the BEST cream of mushroom soup I've ever eaten! Do be aware that the slightly sour taste that cream cheese imparts is detectable, and some folks I gave it to didn't liket that - I plan to try Sharon's neufchatel suggestion might well remedy that - I'll be trying that next time! A couple of changes that I made: I used close to a lb of portabella mushrooms, because that's the package size I had; I didn't have scallions, so I used fine chopped cipollini onions; I had light herb & garlic cream cheese to use, so used that instead of plain, and I put the roasted garlic in with the stock and cream. (It wasn't ready when the recipe called for it.) While I loved the herb & garlic cream cheese in this, my husband thought it took it over the top, flavour wise, so my recommendation is to make it with plain, which is what I'll be doing next time! Oh, and I had used up all my lemons yesterday, so while I had lemon juice, I didn't have zest. It didn't seem to detract from the flavour. Made for PRMR Tag. Thanks, Sharon!

 

[Bonnie G #2]

I've never made mushroom soup before and I've got to say I've fallen in love with this one. Yes, the fat content is high but oh my the taste is soooo creamy and good. I made it just as directed including the sherry, cornstarch and type of mushrooms and have to say it's one of my favorites of all the recipes I made. Smooth creamy goodness, I did sprinkle the smoked paprika on the top when finished just for appearance sake and loved the way it looked. Served with french bread and a glass of white wine. Great dinner and easy to prepare with clear directions. Made for RSC #15 and good luck to the chef I feel this is a winner.

 

[Iceland]

I really liked this soup but i will skip the cream cheese next time i make it. It was really creamy though and very tasty. Good luck at the contest.

 

[evelynathens]

VERY tasty soup - but, man, the fat count is right over the roof. I enjoyed this recipe and will make it again, but I'm going to play around with it and reduce the fat count. For one thing, you definitely don't need all that butter to saute the veggies in, and I'm pretty sure I could have cut back easily to 1 tablespoon successfully. Also, although the soup was quite delicious, I did find it a bit too 'tart' for my liking (not used to a lemony flavour in a cream soup, I guess) and think that a measurement would have been nice instead of 'juice of 1/2 lemon' - maybe my lemon was too large? Also, the 1 tsp of lemon zest was too much for us. With a few minor adjustments to quantities, and some fat elimination to make it healthier, this is a recipe that could definitely go into my family's roster. Thanks, chef.

 

[CJAY8248]

Of all the recipes I tried for the contest, this soup was hands down the best!! This is the winner in my book. I made it exactly as written and wouldn't change a thing. It's perfect. Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe (goodbye, Campbells) and best of luck in the contest.