Creamy Italian mushroom soup with black garlic & porcini

This creamy mushroom soup with black garlic and porcini can be made with any mushrooms you love and is served with crispy onion rings.

This creamy mushroom soup with black garlic and porcini is my latest obsession! Probably this has something to do with the season, and that’s because every fall I start to crave comforting, earthy recipes and dishes that smell like fall!

Yes, it’s not only pumpkin and squash that smells like fall (though if you’re head to toe into the fall spirit you may also want to check this butternut squash risotto). And I promise you this: once you smell this velvety and ultra creamy soup, you’ll think you’re in the forest!

If you happen to visit this blog often, then you know about my latest obsession, black garlic! Using black garlic in a recipe is the perfect way to get all the benefits of garlic (or more accurately twice the health benefits) plus a sweet and earthy taste without the strong smell of raw garlic.

Until now I have used black garlic in a tzatziki sauce (you can find the recipe in this juicy Greek pork skewers post) and in a Mediterranean chimichurri (recipe in this juicy fried meatballs post) and I have totally loved it! The only obvious next choice was to use it in a mushroom recipe since both mushrooms and black garlic have an earthy taste, full of umami, and complement each other.

What’s my simple trick for a thick, creamy mushroom soup? A small potato. At first, I thought about making a béchamel sauce to thicken the soup, but this would mean extra trouble, an extra dirty pot, and this recipe no longer being gluten-free (though you can make béchamel with cornstarch instead of flour). The potato option is a lot easier and simpler because all you have to do is to cook it with the rest of the ingredients.

For better presentation, I needed some very dark onion rings. To make them, I cut an onion into thin slices, put them in a zip log bag with some flour and shook well until fully coated. Then I deep-fried half of them until very dark in color, and almost (but not) burned.

These are the onions you see on top of the mushroom soup. For the onions served on the side I just dipped the rest in a simple flour slurry and deep-fried them until golden brown. Easy and not complicated things! They are delicious both ways!

Some notes/tips:

• Pair this soup with an Italian Sangiovese wine and check this helpful guide to Chianti vs Sangiovese.
• I guess that you want ALL the mushroom flavor! To achieve this, sauté the mushrooms until they water out, and then continue sautéing them, stirring frequently, until all the juices are evaporated and the mushrooms are deep brown in color and very fragrant.
• You can make this soup with any kind of fresh mushrooms you like. I made this soup using 2 parts white button mushrooms, one part Portobello, and one part oyster mushrooms. White button mushrooms are used as “body” and the other varieties add extra flavor.
• You can play with different types of herbs, but thyme is mushroom’s best friend!
• Substitute almond milk for regular milk, if you are vegan.
• Beforet using the  water in which the porcini were soaked, you may want to strain it, to catch any dirt.

Similar recipes:
Vegan pumpkin soup with mushroom chips
Lighter and creamy porcini mushroom risotto

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Recipe

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Creamy Italian mushroom soup with black garlic & porcini

This creamy mushroom soup with black garlic and porcini can be made with whatever mushrooms you love and is served with crispy onion rings.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Active Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine: gluten-free, Italian, Mediterranean, vegan

Keyword: black garlic, mushroom, psarosoupa, vegan

Yield: 4

Author: The Hungry Bites

Ingredients

• For the mushroom soup:
• 1 heaped tablespoon dried porcini, broken into pieces
• ½ cup hot water
• 
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ pound white button mushrooms, sliced
• ½ pound other mushrooms such as Portobello, oyster, chanterelles, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Freshly grated pepper and salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ cup white dry wine
• 2 cups vegetable stock ( or chicken stock for non vegans)
• 1 small potato
• 2-3 cloves black garlic
• 1 cup almond milk (or regular milk for non vegans)
• 
  
• For the crispy onion rings:
• 1 medium onion, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, or corn flour for GF
• A pinch of salt
• ½ cup all-purpose flour, or corn flour for GF
• ½ cup water

Instructions

• One hour before you start making the soup soak the porcini into ½ a cup hot water.
• Transfer the olive oil and the mushrooms to a pot and sauté over high heat until they water out, then continue sautéing them stirring frequently until all the juices evaporate and mushrooms are well browned and fragrant (this can take from 10 to 20 minutes).

  Reduce heat to medium, add the onion, salt, pepper, and thyme, and stir until onion is soft, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the wine, let it boil and after one minute add the stock, the potato, the black garlic, the milk and the porcini with the water.

  Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook covered for 20-30 minutes or until the potato is fork tender.
  
• Turn off the heat and let the soup cool a little. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth (you can also do this with an immersion blender, but the soup may not get super velvety). If the soup is thick, adjust thickness by adding small amounts of water.

  Taste, adjust salt and pepper and return soup to the pot.
  
• For the onion rings, cut the onion into thin slices, and put them in a zip log bag with one tablespoon flour and a pinch of salt. Shake well until fully coated with flour and deep-fry half of them in hot vegetable oil and in batches, until very dark in color and almost (but not) burned.
• Transfer the ½ cup flour in a bowl and add the water gradually until a smooth batter is formed. Dip the rest of the onion rings in this batter and deep-fry them until golden brown.
• Gently warm the soup in the pot, serve in bowls, top with the dark onion rings and serve the golden onion rings on the side.

  Eat!
  

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