Wild Mushroom Hunter’s Soup

January 5th, 2009

Since Wine Blogging Wednesday: Baked Goods, when I tasted a wonderful Amontillado, I’ve been having fun cooking with sherry. Sherry is a wonderful ingredient for food as it adds great savory flavor and it lasts for months without spoiling. I made this recipe for New Years Eve dinner last week and I was amazed at the simple preparation and complex, rich result. A lot of soups can require significant chopping or blending work, while this one was very low maintenance. The exotic mushrooms, sherry, and caramelized onions are a fantastic mix. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
1 1/2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (any kind that you like will do, I used mainly shiitake)
1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced, or canned diced tomatoes in juice
6 cups chicken or mushroom stock, or low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup amontillado sherry
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan (this is optional, I omitted it)
fresh parsley, chives, basil and/or chervil chopped for garnish

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring, until they are light golden.

While the onion mixture is cooking, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a separate pan over high heat; add the mushrooms and saute until they are lightly browned. Add the sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes and stock to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the sherry and lemon zest and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with cheese and/or herbs.

This recipe is from the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Wine & Food Pairings Cookbook. It features 80 recipes and wine recommendations. What I love about our book is that the recipes are organized by wine so you’ll find recipes for “light, aromatic white wines” (like this one) as well as “big, powerful red wines” for example. It was written by our editors and has great photos too, like the one above :)

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Wild Mushroom Crostini

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