Leek, Potato and Porcini Mushroom Soup

It isn't everyday that I have time to or have access to cook with new and unusual ingredients. I haven't been coking much at all lately since starting full time work (which I love and I'm a workaholic). So when I heard about porcini mushrooms (either from Maggie Beer or some recipe in a magazine) and came across it at Harris Farm Markets, I NEEDED TO USE IT.

Then my mum came home with some leeks, because she knows I love leeks, and I then wanted to incorporate these mushrooms into my favourite potato and leek soup.

Google is my best friend in all situations and a quick search came with just that.

Leek, Potato and Porcini Mushroom Soup (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:
40g dried porcini mushrooms*
2 large leeks#
1/2 Spanish red onion
6 medium floury potatoes
2 cups boiling water
2 tbsp olive oil (for cooking)
1 tbsp butter
1 cup water
600g chicken stock
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp sour cream or lemon juice (optional)

1. Boil some water. Pour the porcini mushroom in the pot you will use for your soup and cover with 2 cups of your freshly boiled water. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. EDIT: Porcini mushrooms tend to be gritty, so a good scrub before you soak them should help.

2. Wash the leeks and potatoes. Cut off the roots and dark green parts of the leeks, you only want the white and pale green bits. Slice leeks into fine ribbons. Slice red onion.

3. Peel and cut potatoes into small chunks. I'm using brushed potatoes.

4. Separate the liquid from the mushrooms. But feel free to skip this step.

5. Heat up the pot and add olive oil, leeks and onion. When softened, add porcini, water and chicken stock with the potatoes. Ladle a few scoops of the porcini liquid according to how mushroom-y you want the soup to be. Just gradually add it in case you don't like that earthy taste.

6. Boil on medium-high heat for 30 minutes until potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally.

7. In the meanwhile, clean up after yourself!

8. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and let it cool down a bit before you plug in the blender and puree the soup into a creamy mass of goodness. Alternatively you can blend it roughly to keep some texture.

If you're using a normal blender, make sure the soup has cooled down to room temperature AT LEAST. If you're using a stick blender, and it is probably one of my favourite kitchen appliances ever, you don't need to cool it down as much. However for your safety, I'd make sure the liquid squirting everywhere is not hot enough to burn.

9. Return the soup back to the pot and heat on a very low simmer. Add milk and/or cream.

10. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve nice and hot on a cold Autumn's day.

# When choosing leeks, look for a long white part with a smooth surface. If it's a bit wrinkly, it's matured but still edible. You'll want a younger one still.

* I found dried porcini mushrooms at Harris Farm Markets.


Recipe adapted from Saucy Thyme and Olga Drozd's Ukrainian Classic Kitchen.