Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Another frigid day here in the eastern part of the country, it's only 3 degrees, YIKES!  I think this is great homemade soup weather, no matter how you slice it.  Today I gave mushroom soup a try, took some basic ingredients and put a twist on them to make this delicious Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup.  Recipe below.
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Some basics and a few things to turn up the volume of the soup a little bit!  It's the Sherry baby!

Melt the cup of butter, this makes the broth rich tasting.

Dice the onion, mince the garlic and cook them both in the butter.

Now I got a little crazy and decided to roast the mushrooms, portobellos are meaty so it's easy to do.  Cut up any really big mushrooms, season them with salt and pepper, drizzle on a little olive oil and toss together. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Onions and garlic are tender, throw in some thyme, bay leaf and a little nutmeg, yes that's right just a little.  I also made my roux to thicken the soup. I scooped 3/4 cup of flour into a bowl then ladled just enough of the butter from the pot into the flour, to mix it into a paste.  

Toss back into the pot and whisk it into the remaining butter mixture.

It will become creamy like this with no lumps.

Add the stock, sherry and cream, and using an immersion (stick) blender, or a blender (but be sure to run hot water in the blender before putting anything hot into it so it doesn't shatter!)  Blend all together, so the broth is smooth.

When the mushrooms are done I strain them in a colander so the juice doesn't thin the soup.  Toss about 2/3 of them in the pot and reserve the rest.

Take that immersion blender again and smooth out some of those mushrooms.  When you are done, toss the remaining mushrooms in and leave them whole. 

Delicious, flavorful, creamy and rich Portobello Mushroom Soup.

Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

3 big cloves garlic, minced

5 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup flour

3 lbs Sliced Baby Bella Portobello Mushrooms (3 - 16 oz containers)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 - 32 oz containers vegetable stock

1/3 cup dry sherry, leave it out if you don't like it

1 - 32 oz container of heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the two sticks of butter.  Add the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and nutmeg.  Cook until tender but not brown.

In the meantime, spread the mushrooms out on a large baking sheet and season with salt and pepper, toss with the olive oil.  Roast in oven for 20 - 25 minutes until browned. Remove from oven and drain in a colander to drain all the juices.

Add the flour to a medium bowl and ladle some of the butter mixture from the soup pot into the bowl.  Mix enough into the flour to make a roux.  Add back into the soup pot and whisk it into the remaining butter until there are no lumps and it becomes smooth.

Take out the bay leaves and discard.  Add  vegetable stock, sherry and cream to the pot and stir until all is combined.  With an immersion blender or blender, blend until the broth is smooth.  Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  You will have to continue stirring the soup so it does not stick. When the soup boils, reduce heat to a low simmer for 40-45 minutes, uncovered, stir it occasionally. 

Add 2/3 of the roasted mushrooms to the pot and with the immersion blender, chop them up. Toss in the remaining mushrooms, but leave them whole.  Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the soup thickens.

Makes about 12 servings.

A Lotta Meat and Mushroom Sauce

We love pasta in this house, and we eat a lot of it.  I try to find new ways of making pasta to keep it interesting.  It's hard to cook other meals when there is a vegan in the house, but pasta is always a good choice.  All I do is scoop out enough sauce for the vegan and add what I want to the rest of the sauce.   He will always eat pasta, but it has to have vegan sauce. I had a package of mushrooms to use, they were hanging out in the fridge, and some ground meat too.  I never make meat sauce, we almost always have meatballs/sausage in our sauce, so I switched it up a little bit and made this meat and mushroom sauce and it was delightful.  Recipe below.

I started my sauce first and got that cooking up on the stove.  Then I browned my meat, drain the fat off because you don't need that! Transfer to a bowl and set it aside.

 Saute those 'shrooms in some olive oil until they are nice and brown.

 Back into the pan and toss them together.

 Now this is some hearty meat sauce!  I take out a few ladles of just sauce for the vegan and added some of  the mushrooms, he loved it.

 Top your favorite pasta with this awesome meat sauce and grated Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese, MANGIA!

Homemade Meat and Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 - 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons of oregano

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

8 basil leaves sliced

2 teaspoons of onion powder

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 lb. ground meat

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1 - 8 oz. package of sliced portobello mushrooms

1 - 1lb. box of your favorite pasta

Directions

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, heat the olive oil then add the garlic.  Cook for 30 seconds, stirring so the garlic does not burn. Reduce heat to medium and add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, oregano, parsley, basil, onion powder, red pepper, salt, pepper and sugar. Continue to cook stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is cooking, add the ground meat to a frying pan and cook until completely brown.  Drain the fat off, I use a colander, it makes it easier.  Transfer the meat to a bowl.  Add the one teaspoon of olive to the same pan and cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown.  If you have a vegan in the house, ladle out some of the sauce and toss with some of the mushrooms before combining with the meat. Toss the meat back into the frying pan and combine with the mushrooms.  Add all the meat and mushrooms to the sauce Cook the meat and sauce together for one hour.  In the last half hour of cooking, start a pot of salted water to cook your favorite pasta.