Ultimate comfort lunch: Mum’s Mushroom Soup Recipe

When the weather is cold, and spring just doesn’t seem to be on its way, I always fancy warm, comforting food. One of my favourites (and a bit of a classic in our family) is Mum’s homemade mushroom soup. She serves it Boxing Day lunchtime as a perfect antidote to the excess of food we eat on Christmas day, and she cooked it last weekend, when I visited for lunch. A bowl of this soup, served with homemade bread and some chunky croutons will banish even the chilliest and most persistent of cold winds, and warm you from the inside. It’s also perfect when you have a cold, and really does make me feel a lot better, if only psychologically.

The soup is part blended, part chunky, so it’s got a thick consistency, with a bit of bite. Mum also serves it with fried mushroom stalks on top for extra texture. It’s also creamy and slightly indulgent thanks to the milk and cream – but is definitely worth it! I won’t say any more, because you need to try it to really see what I mean!

Mum’s Mushroom Soup Recipe

Serves 2-3, cooking time 30 mins.

You will need:
25g butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, grated
3 tbsp plain flour
300ml vegetable stock
A pinch of ground nutmeg
½ tsp celery salt (optional)
400ml milk
50ml cream
Salt & pepper

For the fried mushroom stalks:
10 mushroom stalks, sliced into strips
½ tbsp butter

Method
Fry the onions in the butter over a medium to high heat until softened.
Add the garlic and sliced mushrooms, and fry for another 2 minutes.
Add the plain flour, and mix in well to coat the onions and mushrooms as evenly as possible.
Pour in the vegetable stock slowly, mixing well to avoid lumps forming.
Add the milk, nutmeg and celery salt, mix well and bring to the boil.
Turn down to a low simmer and cook for 20 mins.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Carefully pour out about 3/4 of the soup and blend until smooth, then mix it back in.
Season with salt and pepper, and serve!

To make the fried mushroom stalks:
Heat the butter on a high heat, and fry the sliced mushroom stalks until crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen roll, and pat dry to remove the excess oil.
Serve on top of your delicious soup!