THE Mushroom Soup

As its referred to on the Pioneer Woman :)

This soup was soo good.  I have been wanting to try it for some time now but it just took some convincing to get Corey to have an open mind.  He usually will try anything, but he definitely wasn't excited about this one. 

Its sort of a spin on a cream of mushroom soup, but with tomato sauce included.  I think next time I would add cut up chicken to it as well and make it a little heartier.  I didn't have any tomato juice so I used some tomato paste and extra broth.  Next time I would use half milk and half cream.  I did about 3/4 cream and 1/4 milk this time and it was still just a little too rich for me.  We had it with a salad and some fresh crusty italian bread for dipping.  YUM!

THE Mushroom Soup

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 whole Small Carrot, Finely Minced

1 whole Celery Stalk, Finely Minced

1 Tablespoon Garlic, Crushed And Minced

1 pound White Mushrooms, Sliced Thin

4 ounces, fluid White Wine  (1/4 cup)

4 ounces, fluid Tomato Juice (or paste)

4 ounces, fluid Chicken Broth

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream  (1/2 Milk, 1/2 Cream)

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated

1 teaspoon Cornstarch

¼ cups Water

1 pinch Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Heat oil, over medium heat, in a large deep pot.

Mince the carrot and celery nice and fine. Too big and the soup will end up chunky. Toss into the pot and allow them to soften while you clean and slice the mushrooms thin.  Next, add your garlic, right as the carrots and celery start to cook down.

Add the mushrooms to the pot and allow them to reduce and soften. Pour in the wine, and let it cook with the mushrooms for a few minutes.

Add the tomato juice, and the chicken broth. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes before adding the heavy whipping cream, and bring to a soft boil.

Grate Parmesan and add it to the pot. Let this cook for a few minutes, until the cheese is melted and blended with the soup. Add the cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water, then pour into the soup.

Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes or so, until thickened. Salt and pepper the soup to your own tastes.  I also added some Thyme here like some of the comments suggested.

Serve with French bread or crackers.

Note: this recipe can be easily doubled, which you may want to do anyway, cause it won’t last long if you have to share it!  I agree with this point.  I was surprised when I made it...the recipe does not yield a large soup pot.  It would probably serve 4 people.