Mushroom Soup with Cremini and Mashed Potato
A rare case where mashed potato is not the side dish but the thickener. Three potatoes mashed with an egg and two tablespoons of hot milk give a liter of mushroom broth — about four cups — a velvety body somewhere between clear soup and purée, and not a spoon of flour anywhere.
Three things that decide it
- The mushrooms hit the hot oil alone, before the onion. Until their water boils off they stew rather than fry, and the nutty aroma never develops.
- Boiling the potatoes in their skins keeps them from taking on water, so the mash stays stiff instead of slack.
- Stir the mash into the hot broth in small spoonfuls, without stopping. Dropped in as one lump, it stays lumps.
The bouillon cube can be traded for a spoonful of smetana — the thick, high-fat Slavic sour cream, or full-fat sour cream where you shop — plus a pinch of dried thyme, for a cleaner and less salty result. A handful of dried porcini soaked for half an hour turns a plain cremini soup into a woodland one; strain the soaking liquid and use it in place of some of the water. Serve at once with parsley and dill; reheated it thickens, so loosen it with boiling water.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Boil the potatoes in their skins ahead of time.
Chop the mushrooms and cook them in well-heated oil until the moisture has evaporated.
Add the finely chopped onion and cook the two together for 10 minutes.
Pour in a liter of boiled water and bring it to a boil.
Peel the potatoes and mash them, working in 2 tablespoons of hot milk and the egg.
Stir the mash into the soup along with the bouillon cube, mix until smooth, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and finish with finely chopped parsley and dill.
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