Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Soup

By á-3354

When its cold outside and you can feel Father Winter penetrating your clothes right through to your bones, its time for some hearty, healthy, healing soups! This is a recipe that I have used for several years, changing up the main ingredients to create a variety of amazing soups that will warm the very heart of winter! AND they are vegan (ssssshhhhhh).

Today I will walk you through a wonderful mushroom with roasted garlic and leek soup. You can leave out the mushrooms if you prefer, but then you need to double your garlic and leek counts and know that you will then have a Roasted Garlic and Leek Soup, also a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 Fresh Heads of Organic Garlic (Roasted)
• 1 Large Organic Onion (Chopped)
• 2 Organic Garlic Toes (Minced)
• 2 Medium Organic Bell Peppers (Chopped - Green, Yellow, Red or Mixed)
• 5 Stalks Organic Celery (Chopped)
• 6 Medium Organic Leeks (Cleaned and Chopped)
• 1 Cup Organic Baby Bella Mushrooms (Chopped)
• 1 Cup Organic Shitaki Mushrooms (Chopped)
• 1/2 Cup Organic Plain Soy Milk
• 4 - 6 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 - 4 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
• Fresh Pepper and Sea Salt to taste
• Tools
• 1 Sharp Knife for Chopping
• 1 Stock Pot
• 1 Stock Spoon
• 1 Cookie Sheet
• 1 Measure Spoons and Cup
• 1 Electric Hand Blender
• 1 Garlic Press

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 150mins
Adapted from culinarycure.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Step One - Roasting the Garlic

There is nothing like the taste of fresh roasted garlic when prepared properly and added to your dishes. The roasting process brings a wonderful deep aroma and taste that can not be reproduced in any other way and will give your soup that magic quality.

To begin, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then carefully cut each of your garlic heads by slicing straight across the top, about 1/4 of the way down the head, removing the top quarter and exposing the fresh garlic inside. Do not throw the top of the garlic head out, as you will roast these little bits as well. Take a cookie sheet that has a small or medium rim running all the way around the perimeter and place your garlic heads onto the sheet, along with the garlic tops that you cut off. Spread them out evenly across the cookie sheet. Drizzle your extra virgin olive oil onto each exposed garlic head. You can also use a rubber basting brush to apply your garlic if you prefer. Then sprinkle sea salt and cracked pepper onto each exposed garlic surface. Add just enough cold water to the bottom of your cookie sheet to cover the surface area. This will assist by adding some steam to the mix.

Roast your garlic for anywhere between 25 and 45 minutes, checking it occasionally. You are looking for the tops to become golden to dark brown with small bubbles on the outer edges of the large heads. Some of the smallest bits of the top parts of the heads may turn black, which is OK as you will simply throw those little bits out. Almost all (if not all depending on your oven) of the water will have evaporated. Carefully remove the roasting sheet and let your garlic cool. Once it's cool enough to handle, gently squeeze each garlic head to remove the freshly roasted toes. Set the garlic aside and throw away the garlic wrappers.

Step Two - Preparing Your Primary Veggies

Some people like to use potatoes as a starch to firm up their soups. That is fine to do and sometimes, when I want a fattier starchier soup, I will do the same. But most of the time, I prefer to use Leeks in place of potatoes (unless of course I am making a Leek and Potato Soup). Start by cutting the bulb end of your leeks right above the little roots. Then cut the greens off just below where the green split into their leaves. Slice the leek long ways down the middle, cutting it in half.

Now if you have never cooked with leeks before, know that they are grown in loose sandy soil and tend to be very dirty. The dirtier the fresher in my book! Therefore you have to spend some time washing them thoroughly under cold water. Be sure to get all of the sand from between the layers. Then cut them into chunks and set aside.

Next, take your mushrooms and wash them clean. I love baby bellas and shataki mushrooms for their rich earthy flavor and natural aroma. I recommend going to your local Farmer's Market or Organic Co-op as the freshness and prices are going to be much better than your local store in most cities. Here in Northern California, I go to my local Farmer's Market and see "The Mushroom Lady" where I can get a 1 pound bag of fresh shataki mushrooms for $8.00! I just love her set up!

The baby bellas I sometimes get from her and sometimes from Whole Foods or even CostCo when they have the fresh large package. I also use them for stir fry, spring rolls and other Asian inspired delicacies.

Once you have washed your shrooms, quarter them and set them aside. I tend to also cut the very ends of the woodier stems off during the washing phase.

So now we have prepared the star ingredients: roasted garlic, fresh leeks and our mushrooms! Now we move to our soup base.

Step Three - The Soup Base

Prepare your onion, bell pepper and celery by washing, peeling and chopping. Then mince your 2 toes of garlic (not your roasted garlic) and set aside. I use a Garlic Press for my garlic but you can use your knife to chop the toes if you prefer.

Next place your stock pot onto your fire and add 3 or 4 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to the pot. Crack some fresh pepper and sea salt directly into your oil as the heat begins to take effect. Add your herbes de provence to the oil. If you don't have the herbes de provence on hand, a mixture of Italian seasoning can be substituted. Add the garlic toes, onion, bell peppers and celery, mixing all together.

This is a typical stock base which is used in most cooking recipes in the South (I grew up cooking in my family kitchens of New Orleans). You want to keep your heat between high and medium-high, stirring regularly while your veggies begin to expel their magical juices. Once your onion is semi translucent, add about 1/4 cup of water to your pot, be mindful of the steam and mix again. We are now beginning what is known as a reduction, cooking the vegetable medley down. Continue to stir occasionally until your water is almost all gone, then add another 1/4 cup of water and repeat the process. This is important because you are not only further cooking and mixing your wonderful veggie base, but you are sweating the ingredients, coaxing them to release all of their amazing juices, while deglazing the pot.

Next add 3 to 4 cups of water and mix everything together, bringing the mixture up to heat again. Then add your leeks to the pot. Mix them into your veggie base, fully coating all of the leeks in the water.

Once the mixture begins to simmer and your leeks relax, slightly becoming translucent, add your mushrooms to the pot and mix together. You may also want to add another 1 to 2 cups of water, depending on your stock pot. Keeping in mind that your finished mixture will be about 2 inches from the top of the pot and will cook down for an hour or so, loosing another 3 to 6 inches in evaporation.

Once the mixture is back up to temperature and simmering again, add your roasted garlic, mix everything together and adjust your liquid as needed. Let simmer on medium to low for 45 minutes or more. Stir occasionally, making sure your fire is not too hot that you are scorching the bottom of your pot.

The last step is to take your Electric Hand Blender and carefully place into your hot pot and begin blending on low. I take my time with this step and slowly increase the speed as I puree all of the ingredients together. about half way through this process of blending, add your soy milk, slowly, while continuing to blend. If you have soy allergies or just don't want to use soy (or rice milk), you can skip this step all together. The soy mellows the mixture ever so slightly and completes the unification of flavors. This entire dish is about layering wonderful flavors together into a medley of healthy foods to strengthen your body in these cold winter days.

Finally, taste and add sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, adjusting to your pallate. Serve with home made french bread and a leafy green salad by a warm fire with your loving family.