Easy Mushroom and Walnut Soup Recipe

“Yes,” said Cook. “That is soup that you are smelling. The princess, not that you would know or care, is missing, bless her goodhearted self. And times are terrible. And when times are terrible, soup is the answer. Don’t it smell like the answer?” 
~ Kate DiCamillo

Soup is such an easy meal to whip up, and it makes for handy left-overs too, for those other times when you want to eat well and fast. This weekend, between napping and being at Bluesfest, I need meals like this!

This gluten-free quick soup has an earthy, satisfying flavour, and can be modified to suit vegans, vegetarians and people following dairy-free diets. The mushrooms give this soup that rich earthiness. Try not to use just button mushrooms, as they have little flavour. The walnuts add protein and a hearty, creamy texture to this soup.

I use good quality home-made chicken stock, but any good stock or bone-broth will do as your soup base. Obviously, if you are vegan or vegetarian use vegetable stock.

Serve this soup with a salad, some crusty bread or toast for a filling and nutritious meal.

And please forgive the bubbley-ness of my soup pics – I was in too much of a hurry to get soup from blender to mouth to wait for them to settle! 🙂

Ingredients for four big serves:

2 cups of good quality chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegan/vegetarian option), 1/2 cup of milk (or soy, rice, almond etc), a dash of Braggs Amino Acids or a splash of Tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) 5 heaped cups of sliced assorted mushrooms, 1 cup of walnuts, 1 fat clove of peeled garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 2 large green shallots (scallions/spring onions), salt and pepper.

Optional but good:

One large cup of sliced mushrooms, a knob of butter or slug of oil and one more crushed garlic clove, plus some additional finely sliced green shallot and cracked black pepper to serve. Some creme fraiche, sour cream, cashew cream or coconut cream to dollop on top of soup.

Note: To fancy this up add one tablespoon of sherry at the end of cooking. Not necessary but certainly enhances flavour, giving an extra dimension of sweetness and depth.

Method

Stovetop:

Place stock, mushrooms, chopped garlic, and herbs in saucepan. Add a little pepper and salt. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer ten to fifteen minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add walnuts and milk. Use an immersion (stick) blender to blend soup until smooth, or cool soup slightly and run through a blender or food processor.

Adjust seasoning of necessary.

Do not boil once milk has been added or soup may curdle.

Blendotherm, Vitamix or Thermomix:

This is how I made my batch of soup, using my new Blendotherm. A minimum of fuss and eight minutes from start to finish.

Add liquid ingredients first, and then all others. Select soup setting and leave to cook.

To finish, no matter how you cooked your soup:

Add sliced mushrooms, butter or oil, and garlic to a pan and stir for a minute or two over medium heat until done.

Adjust seasonings to soup, add sherry, and pulse or stir briefly to allow ingredients to mix thoroughly.

Serve soup with some sliced mushrooms, a sprinkling of green shallots or herbs of your choice and some cracked pepper. It’s also lovely with a swirl of your favourite cream on top too.

Soup will keep for up to five days in fridge or may be frozen and reheated.