Mushroom Stoup

Stew or soup….I’m not really sure, this version is probably more soupy. I tried to recreate one of the dishes I had at the Hearty Squirrel’s ‘Climate-friendly food workshop’ (see picture below), though admittedly this version isn’t so climate friendly (the porchini mushrooms were from China and I have no idea where all the bits in the soup mix came from, oops). The great thing about the original was that all the ingredients were from Scotland! They put dumplings in it too which made it more stew-like. But anyway, here’s my version…

Makes 6 portions – me and Alex just kept reheating it and ate it for 3 days straight it was so good! 

Ingredients:

50g dried porchini mushrooms

2 medium sized chestnut mushrooms, chopped

Half a bag of kale (~50g), leaves removed from stalks

1 large carrot, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 leek, chopped

100g soup mix (usually contains dried pearl barley, lentils, various peas and beans etc)

2 pints veg stock

2-3 tbsp olive oil

Herbs to taste (I used oregano, rosemary, sage, black pepper and salt)

Method:

1. In advance of making the soup, rehydrate the dried porchini mushrooms (rinse thoroughly, soak for 2 hours in cold water, drain and rinse, soak for 30 mins in hot water) and soak the soup mix (overnight in cold water is best).
2. Prepare the veg and heat up the oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the onion and leeks and gently fry till the onion turns clear. Mix in the herbs and garlic.
3. Next add the chestnut mushrooms and carrot. If you have a muslin cloth or something similar, strain the liquid that the porchini mushrooms soaked in and add that too before adding the mushrooms themselves (this will remove any remaining grit off the mushrooms). If you don’t (I didn’t) just throw it all in but it might be a bit gritty once you get to the bottom of the pan! Add the soup mix, then the stock, bring to the boil, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots and soup mix have gone soft. Add the kale 5-10 minutes before the end.

 

 - and here's the one I had at the workshop!