Mushroom Soup with Vegetables
A full kilo of mushrooms — about two pounds — for one pot of soup looks excessive right up until you try making it with half. The mushrooms are not a garnish here, they are the stock itself: half an hour of simmering pulls out enough glutamates to give the broth the savory weight people usually go to meat for. The recipe comes from a Lenten collection, the Orthodox fasting season when mushrooms stood in for both protein and flavor.
The taste is built in two layers. First the mushroom broth, then the root vegetables softened in oil. Parsley root will be the unfamiliar one for most Western cooks: it looks like a pale, slender parsnip and tastes like celery crossed with parsley — a small parsnip plus a few parsley stems is a workable substitute, and celery root can be swapped for two ribs of celery. Sautéing them rather than boiling them straight makes them sweeter and more fragrant, and that step is what separates this from plain potato soup.
Zucchini and tomato go in during the last ten minutes and no earlier. That is enough for the zucchini to soften while holding its cubes instead of dissolving, and the tomato adds the acidity that cuts the earthiness of the mushrooms. For a deeper aroma, swap part of the button mushrooms for soaked dried porcini. Serve with toasted white bread and a handful of herbs.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 448 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Clean and chop the mushrooms, cover them with hot water, and cook for 30 minutes.
Lightly saute the carrot, parsley root, and celery in oil, then add the green onions.
Add the roots and the diced potatoes to the boiling mushroom broth.
Ten minutes before the soup is done, add the chopped zucchini and tomato, and season with salt.
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