Mushroom & Chestnut Soup

Mushroom & Chestnut Soup is wonderfully full flavoured, containing dried porcini mushrooms as well as fresh mushrooms. I like to add a little smoked bacon, but that can be left out if you want to keep the soup vegetarian. But what makes this different to your common or garden mushroom soup is the addition of chestnuts which give a sweetish, nutty edge.

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Is there anyone who doesn’t like mushroom soup?

Well, I used to be someone who didn’t like mushroom soup. Growing up, I only ever having had the unpleasant tinned variety and associated its almost mouldy taste with that damp corner under the kitchen sink where all sorts of nasty fungi grew.

Apart from the taste, I think that one of the reasons tinned soups are often so poor is that there’s no real body to them.

Zoom in on the ingredients for the leading brand of Cream of Mushroom Soup. Then compare them to those in the recipe card at the end of the post.

No softly cooked onions, celery or garlic to form the base of a good soup. Incredibly, for a mushroom soup, there’s barely even any mushrooms. No wonder they’ve added two types of flour to thicken this mess of skimmed milk powder and oil.

Thankfully, homemade Mushroom & Chestnut Soup is another thing entirely. Rich and tasty, a bowlful is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face on a chilly day.

MUSHROOM & CHESTNUT SOUP

In my Mushroom & Chestnut Soup, besides onion, garlic and celery, there’s also lots of fresh mushrooms and umami-rich dried porcini.

Just a handful of the latter, soaked in boiling water, makes a world of difference. And you can add some of the soaking water to the soup for even more flavour.

Chestnuts first got added to my regular mushroom soup simply because I had one of those pouches of cooked whole chestnuts in the cupboard.

I think I’d bought some to go with last year’s Christmas sprouts. Bought in a two-for-one offer, the second pouch needed using up. Now I’m certainly not a slave to ‘Best Before’ dates but, as they were coming up to their THIRD overdue month, I thought their time had probably come 😁.

Learn the difference between Use By and Best Before dates here

I think the chestnuts add an additional layer of flavour as well as texture to the soup: slightly sweet with a definite nuttiness.

So the sweetness doesn’t take over though, I like to add acidity with a splash of Balsamic vinegar. If you keep mushroom ketchup in the cupboard then that would be fitting. Worcestershire sauce does the same job.

I use a mixture of olive oil and butter to soften and colour the vegetables, adding a little dried thyme too. I sometimes, but not always, add bacon to the mix as well; the recipe card includes both versions.

Once the stock’s been added (I like chicken, but use vegetable or even beef if you prefer), the whole thing is brought to a simmer for 15 minutes.

I then go in with the stick blender, but I leave a little texture rather than making it completely smooth, as that’s how I like most soups.

A dash of double cream finishes off the Mushroom & Chestnut Soup. If you prefer a creamier soup, then just reduce the amount of stock and add more cream at the end. Gently reheat the soup before serving if necessary.

SERVING MUSHROOM & CHESTNUT SOUP

While the soup tastes very good on its own, the bowl above does look a bit boring, doesn’t it?

Even a few slices of mushroom browned in a bit of butter while the soup’s cooking will make the world of difference to your bowl. A scattering of fresh herbs, parsley or chives, freshens things up.

To make the soup really special though, how about a drizzle of pungent black truffle oil? You should also try it over a weekend breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms.

While taking photographs for this post, we also happened to have some Colston Bassett Stilton cheese in the fridge so I crumbled some of that over too. The umami-rich soup stood up wonderfully well to the bold cheese as it melted in.

I also like the neat coincidence that the mould that makes the cheese blue is actually a type of fungus.

If you prefer crunch with your soup, then you’ll find a recipe for garlic croutons in my post about Creamy White Bean Soup.

The detailed recipe below will serve two very generously, more if you have it with croutons, bread or as a starter.

Mushroom & Chestnut Soup will be fine in the fridge for around three days. I’ve also found that it freezes well. Reheat gently so as not to split the cream.

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love for you to rate it and leave a comment below.

5 from 1 vote

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Mushroom & Chestnut Soup

Mushroom soup is given a flavour boost by dried porcini alongside the usual fresh mushrooms, while chestnuts add a sweet nuttiness. Add bacon for smokiness or leave out for a vegetarian soup.

Course Appetizer, Soup, Starter, Lunch, Light Meal

Cuisine British

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 2 generously

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 15 g dried porcini mushrooms
• 0.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 rasher smoked streaky bacon, chopped optional
• 15 g butter increase to 20g if not including bacon
• 2 medium onions roughly chopped
• 1 stick celery roughly chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• 200 g mushrooms roughly chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 180 g cooked chestnuts roughly chopped
• 700 ml stock
• 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar, mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire sauce
• 50 ml double cream

To Serve (optional)

• 2 mushrooms sliced & fried in butter
• 2 tbsp Stilton cheese crumbled
• 1 tbsp fresh herbs, e.g. parsley, chives finely chopped
• 2 tsp truffle oil

Instructions

1. Put the dried porcini in a small bowl and cover with boiling water from a kettle. Set aside.

2. If including bacon:

   Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the chopped bacon. Cook until starting to brown then add the butter.

   If not including bacon:

   Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan.

3. Add the onions and celery to the pan, season with a little salt and pepper and cook until they are starting to soften and brown (10-15 min).

4. Meanwhile, drain the porcini mushrooms, but save the soaking liquor. Chop the porcini finely.

5. Add the fresh mushrooms and the porcini to the pan, season with a little salt and pepper again plus the thyme. Cook, stirring regularly until the fresh mushrooms are starting to brown.

6. Stir in the chopped chestnuts until they are well combined with the rest of the ingredients.

7. Add the stock, the Balsamic, mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire sauce and the porcini soaking liquor (leave the last bit in the bottom of the bowl as it's usually gritty).

8. Put on a lid, bring to a boil then reduce the heat so that the soup gently simmers.

   Simmer for 15 min.

9. Using a stick blender, off the heat blitz the soup but don't make it entirely smooth.

10. Stir in the cream and gently reheat if necessary.

11. Divide the soup between bowls and top with any or all of the serving suggestions.

Recipe Notes

Mushroom & Chestnut Soup should keep for three days in the fridge. Or freeze once cold.