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CREAM OF SHIITAKE MUSHROOM & CARAMELIZED LEEK SOUP + A HOLIDAY GIVING GUIDE.

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 cups leeks white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced (approximately 2 leeks)
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 5 cups shiitake mushrooms roughly chopped, tough stems removed
  • 3 cloves garlic smashed
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • ½ cup heavy cream plus more as needed
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more as needed
  • ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon truffle oil (optional but deeeelicious!)
  • thyme-fried maitake mushrooms Kale & Caramel addition!
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 4 ounces maitake mushrooms sliced into individual florets
  • 2 pinches sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Heat the butter in a large stock pot over low heat. Keep a small cup of water nearby. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt and stir to coat with the butter. Allow the leeks to sweat for 2 to 3 minutes and then turn up the heat to medium-low. Allow the leeks to slowly caramelize, stirring frequently, 15 to 20 minutes. As a brown glaze forms on the bottom of the pan, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water at a time and stir to incorporate the glaze back into the leeks. Once they are nicely caramelized, approximately 10 minutes, add the mushrooms.
  • Continue to cook the mushrooms and leeks for another 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently and deglazing with water as needed, until the mushrooms have softened and shrunk down a bit in size. Add the garlic and stir for another 30 seconds. Deglaze with the wine, scraping up the brown bits that will have formed on the bottom of the pot and incorporating them into the vegetables.
  • Allow the wine to reduce to almost nothing and then add the stock. Bring the soup to a boil, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Allow the soup to simmer for 1 hour.
  • Ladle the soup into a blender and puree, in batches if necessary, until silky smooth. Pour the soup back into the pan and add the cream, salt, and pepper. Add the truffle oil, if using. If a thinner consistency is desired, add more stock or cream.
  • Once soup is ready, fry the mushrooms. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat until it sizzles. Reduce heat to medium-low, then add thyme, mushrooms, thyme, and salt, and fry a couple minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from heat and scoop mushrooms out into a bowl. Let cool.
  • Ladle soup into small bowls, top with mushrooms, a drizzle of cream, and freshly cracked pepper, and serve hot.