Perfect for a chilly fall or winter evening. A piping hot bowl of comfort as I like to call it :)
What do we need:
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1/2 of a large white onion finely chopped (the onion I used was very large, I think 1/2 of onion chopped was roughly a little over one cup)
4 to 5 medium sized garlic cloves finely chopped
2 to 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
12 oz white button mushrooms - finely chop 3/4 of the mushrooms and slice the remaining - just to give some texture and bite to the soup - you can finely chop all or slice them all as per your convenience
Himalayan pink salt as per taste
1 tsp black pepper powder - you can add more as per your preference
A small sprig of fresh rosemary (since I had some homegrown) - you can add some dried rosemary, about 1/2 tsp
1 tsp Italian herb seasoning (without salt) - you can add more as per your taste
1 cup water or vegetable stock or mushroom stock (I used plain water and it turned out super flavorful)
A handful of chopped celery (this is entirely optional)
Cashew Cream,
To make Cashew Cream - Soak 10 to 12 cashews in 1 cup of any plant based milk - I used almond milk unsweetened and I also used unsalted roasted cashews that I had at home.
(You can use any regular milk if you are not vegan)
How do we make it:
I used an instant pot to make this but you could very well use any heavy bottomed pan.
1. Heat the instant pot on sauté mode (medium) and add EVOO, chopped garlic and onions and sauté well.
2. Once softened add celery and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes.. once soft add the whole wheat flour and sauté again for a min or two.
3. Add mushrooms and mix well, add salt and all the herbs and spices and continue to sauté for a couple minutes again.
4. Add water and let it pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Once done, let it sit for 5 minutes before releasing pressure.
5. In a blender, blend the soaked cashews and milk to make cashew cream and set aside.
6. To the same blender now add 3/4 of the soup mixture from the instant pot and blend to a smooth velvety consistency. Now add this back to the remaining 1/4th chunky soup in the pot.
7. Mix well, bring to a boil and serve hot :)
You can adjust the consistency of the soup if needed, if you want it to thicken you can add a tbsp of cornstarch to half a cup of water and add a couple of spoons of this mixture to the soup. If you want to make it thinner you could add water or plant based milk.
Note : The soup thickens later so keep that in mind before adjusting the consistency right away if you are serving it later :)
(You can blend the entire soup with a hand immersion blender to make it simpler, I don’t have one hence used the blender and I wanted some texture and bite pieces in the soup hence blended only 3/4 of it and left the remaining 1/4 of the soup chunky)
Serve with garlic bread or any bread of your choice :)
Comments