Mushroom and sherry soup recipe from the inclusive world of Dame Fandango

vegetables | mushroom and sherry soup

Serves 2-4 with bread/croutons

This is a beautiful soup with a thinner broth-type consistency. I always think about my mum when I'm making this because she is well known for making the dairy version. Of all our soups, it's the one I wouldn't recommend blending, because it seems to lose its rich flavour and need more salt. It's ever so easy to make and tastes even better if made the day before and left to rest and infuse overnight. The basic version uses flat mushrooms, because they are lovely and tasty, but you can also use button mushrooms, and/or experiment with a mixture of shitake or oyster mushrooms.

Wheat free, dairy free, nut free, meat free version...

Ingredients...

1 finely chopped onion
1 baking sized potato, chopped into very small cubes so that they disintegrate into the soup.
4 large flat mushrooms cut into thinish slices (I usually cut them in half, and then into approx 3mm thickness slices) or you can use the equivalent quantity of mixed or other mushrooms.
1-2 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¾ pint (450ml) water and 5 tsp veg stock
½ pint (300ml) rice milk
4 tsbp sherry
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

Chives or parsley to garnish

Method...

Heat the oil in a large saucepan
Add the onions and cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften
Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes, but don't let garlic go brown and crispy! (can you tell this is a woman speaking from experience?!)
Add the mushrooms and mix in well to coat with onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes
Add 3 tbsp of the sherry at this stage, and stir well, so that the mushrooms will absorb it - it makes them much tastier
Leave to sweat for 10 minutes or so, stirring every now and again.
Add the potato cubes, water and veg stock and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes
Pour in the rice milk and heat through gently
Stir in the remaining 1 tbsp sherry
Add any further salt to taste
Sprinkle in a few tsp of chopped chives/parsley if you have some, and add some black pepper on top before serving

Maybe serve with...

This is great with any sort of wheat-free crouton or bread.

For those able to eat dairy ...

You can use butter instead of the oil in the soup and dairy milk instead of rice milk. For those able to eat dairy, you can always swirl some cream on top of their soup and then sprinkle with chives just before serving.

For those able to eat wheat...

You can easily use any selection of wheat bread for the croutons or simply to mop up the lovely juicy liquid

If you have mushrooms leftover, try the mushroom provençal or mushroom pate.

As for the leftover sherry!...

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