This recipe gets a concentrated mushroom flavor from the addition of dried mushrooms – try different types to completely change the flavor. To thicken the soup we went with potatoes instead of flour. I find that a soup thickened with potatoes seems to keep its heat a little bit longer – and isn’t that what we want on a cold winter’s day?
Two base-scorching mysteries solved in one fell soup!
I was inspired to make this recipe when a reader complained that a specific recipe she made kept scorching the base of her cooker. I looked at the recipe and found that a can of Cream of Mushroom soup was the culprit – it was filled with thickeners which prevented the liquid in the pressure cooker from boiling. Once I saw what was in the can I recommended she make this soup herself.
All of the ingredients in hip Cream of Mushroom Soup are roughly chopped and kept rather large until nearly the end of the recipe – they are pureed after pressure cooking. I point this out because another reader recently posted on Facebook wondering what he did wrong to make his recipe scorch. He was completely blameless, but the recipe he used irresponsibly directs the cook to puree all of the ingredients before pressure cooking – this, too, makes the cooking liquid too thick to freely boil in the cooker to make steam.
You won’t have to worry about this recipe, or any recipe on this website or the hip book, scorching in your pressure cooker – ever.
Now, go forth and get cozy!
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 L or larger | none | 5-7 min. | High(2) | Normal |
(per serving)
- Serves: 4-6
- Serving size: ⅙h (about 1 cup)
- Calories: 255.8
- TOTAL Fat: 17.5g
- TOTAL Carbs: 22.1g
- Sugar Carbs: 5.5g
- Sodium: 567.5
- Fiber Carbs: 3.0g
- Protein: 3.5g
- Cholesterol: 54.3g
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ pounds (750g) fresh mushrooms (white, crimini or portobello), a handful finely sliced and the rest roughly chopped
- 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
- 1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons tart dry red wine (like Chianti)
- 1 ounce (30g) dried mushrooms (Porcini, Shiitake or Oyster), rinsed
- 4 cups (1l) salt-free vegetable stock
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 pound or 500g)
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt (omit if using commercial stock)
- 1 cup (250ml) fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- Optional: 1 teaspoon white truffle spread
- In the pre-heated pressure cooker on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and saute' the thinly sliced mushrooms on both sides until golden (about 5 minutes). Remove the mushrooms and set aside.
- Now, add the celery and onions and saute' them until the onion has softened.
- Push the vegetables to the side and add enough roughly-sliced mushrooms to cover the base of the pressure cooker (probably two handfuls) and brown them lightly by stirring infrequently (about 5 minutes).
- Pour in the wine and use the wine's liquid to lift the brown bits from the base of the booker to incorporate them into the recipe and evaporate the wine completely.
- Add the remainder of fresh mushrooms (not the sliced and sauteed mushrooms), dried mushrooms, potatoes, vegetable stock, and salt (if using) and mix well.
- Close the lid and set the valve to pressure cooking position.
- Electric pressure cookers: Cook for 7 minutes at high pressure.
Stovetop pressure cookers: Lock the lid, and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure. - When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Normal release - release pressure through the valve.
- Add the fresh cream, pepper and truffle spread (if using) and, using an immersion blender, puree the contents of the pressure cooker.
- Stir in the sliced mushrooms (reserving a few for garnish) and serve.
Thanks, Laura – a delightful recipe. Quick and easy. Made a few substitutions to utilize ingredients on hand: white wine instead of red; coconut milk instead of cream; mushroom broth instead of vegetable broth. Delicious! “Good enough for company,” was the consensus.
I wish I’d found this as little as two days ago. Actually, it’s a good reminder to check your cookbook before I go off on my own. At any rate, I had a container of mushrooms in the fridge that were starting to shrivel up a bit and I was just too tired to even think about slicing them. I tossed them and the other veggies in there along with some chicken broth and a little beef broth, pressured them for as long as the chart says to for mushrooms, I put everything in the blender and blended it until there were still little pieces of vegetables. I put it all back in the cooker on a low heat, added herbs, thickening, and cream. Once it was nicely reheated, I ate it with gusto. It was fabulous. Now I can make one even better with this recipe. Thanks for everything you do for us.
Welcome Cynthia! There’s another excuse to pick-up more mushrooms which are a genuine under-recognized health food. ; )
http://www.fungusamongus.com/dried-mushroom-health-benefits/
Ciao,
L
Thank you so much for this link! Would their Bulk Medley Bits & Pieces (which contains many different kinds of mushrooms) be good for this recipe? Also, thank you for including nutritional info with your recipes. As a type 2 diabetic, this helps me decide which recipes I can make and how much of a serving I can consume. Is there a calculator you recommend for people who want to find out nutritional info for their own recipes?
I made this soup yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. I wanted to make it earlier, but I had a tough time finding dried mushrooms. I was in my local Winco grocery store and found them in the Asian food section.
I served it last night as a sauce for leftover pasta along with broiled salmon. Yummy.
I had it for breakfast this morning.
I am amazed at the depth of flavor of this soup. I will be eating well this week!
I love this recipe! Have made it many times and it’s definitely a family favorite — so much so that my husband and I have decided to consider this our “signature soup.” The only modifications I make are: 1) I leave out the wine because it’s perfectly delicious without it, 2) I omit the truffle sauce because I never have any on hand, and 3) I toss in a good handful of fresh thyme because the flavor of thyme melds so beautifully with that of the mushrooms. This recipe is so quick and easy that I often fix it midweek and freeze up any leftovers to enjoy whenever the mood strikes us. (They never last long!) Most definitely company worthy!
So glad to read you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your special touches.
Ciao,
L
Laura, would this be a good substitute for canned cream of mushroom soup in recipes? I’m always looking for a good alternative to the canned stuff!
It should work but you might want to leave out the dairy and add it later at the end of the second cooking just like you would yogurt. Otherwise, it overcooks and can even curdle. I would also leave the potatoes whole until the second cooking/use is done to avoid making to too thick then rice them in and add the dairy and stir until the dairy is fully heated. The rest should be the same.
This recipe is amazing! It’s so good that it actually made me leave this comment here – first time I am ever doing this. I made it yesterday and even tough I did not had the wine, it came out delicious! the only thing: next time I will put more liquid into the pot because the 1 l of stock was not enough and I actually had to add boiled water.
All in all the best soup ever. Now I will try the pumpkin one too :)
Hi Laura,
my son has a dairy allergy. Is there any substitute for the cream in your opinion?
Yes, you can substitute it with any dairy-free milk. You’ll want a neutral flavor, for example not coconut cream or milk, to preserve the strong mushroom flavor. Add a small chopped potato (peeled or un-peeled your choice) to make it a little bit thicker, without changing anything else (liquid or cooking time).
Ciao,
L
P.S. If you go for the truffle spread, be aware that most commercial ones (at least the ones made in Italy) contain some grated cheese.
I just made this soup and it is delish! I didn’t have dried mushrooms or truffle spread but it is still really great without. My 9 year old daughter LOVED it. Thanks so much!
Excuse my uneducated thoughts but what in the wife works is white truffle spread?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle
It has a very strong taste and is used as a flavoring. The earth mushroom-like flavor makes it perfect for this recipe. It’s generally found in gourmet kitchens (in other words, not mine).
Melissa, white truffles have a very strong flavor – like gorgonzola or porcini mushrooms. Some love it, some think it smells like stinky sport socks. But those who like it, really, really do! Because it is so strong-flavored it harmonizes with the porcini’s strong flavor (like nearly no other ingredient can) making it more complex and intense. ; ) Since fresh they are very expensive and hard to keep, you can get much of the truffle flavor from a spread. ; ) Here’s one: http://amzn.to/2wXXnqj
Ciao,
L
As always, amazing and delicious recipes.
For those who have had mushrooms go slimy to quick. There is a solution!
I’m a potter and got tired of this happening. I made a container with a lid large enough to hold about a pound of mushrooms. I bisqued it only..no glaze and no final firing. Because it’s naturally porous, it keeps the mushrooms perfectly for a very long time. Bisque Ware is not pretty…so I don’t even try to make and sell these…..but. If you have a potter friend…ask them to make you a bisqued container… put your mushrooms in and pop in the fridge…you will be amazed!!!
Wow, what a great idea Carla! I store my mushrooms in the fridge uncovered (out of their plastic box). It tends to dry them out a bit and make them less watery, too!
Ciao,
L
I have found that most soups of this type dehydrate and store extremely well. Used on the trail or camping they are particularly welcome on cold, damp days.
Using powders of dried mushroom blends for umami (in place of MSG) seems to be an emerging trend. I think it has it’s roots in the paleo movement. I suspect that this soup, dehydrated and powdered, would make a fine and nutritious seasoning. I will have to try it.
It might be mentioned somewhere, but does it matter what kind of potato is best to use?
Any kind of potato. Whatever you have around. : ) Probably not yams or sweet potatoes as they are less starchy than your common white- the potato in this recipe is being used as a thickener.
Ciao,
L
Hi Laura,
I tried this recipe in my good old Fissler pressure cooker today. It was delicious! Thanks for sharing. My family did however find that it was too peppery. We could have done with 1/2 tsp. Also, if one were to add a herb(s) to this recipe what would you recommend as a compliment to the mushroom based flavours?
Michael, If you wanted to add herbs recommend a rosemary, sage or a bay leaf – or a little bit of all three!
Ciao,
L
A single bay leaf is always safe for a broth and many soups but take out out after it is done. They never get soft enough to eat. Use age lightly, it is very potent. Fresh Rosemary might balance out the pepper. I use it in savory dishes like meat are potatoes but again not too much. Salt will really bring out its flavor more then most spices. Again, I would try a small amount of thyme. I goes well with spices that were mentioned.
I would use a ricer on the potatoes, if available. When I make this I will add some Thyme and substitute the heavy cream, which is the only unhealthy ingredient, probably with milk, since it already has potato to give it texture. If you want lighter taste that bring out the mushrooms more try using Sherry instead. Try real black truffles, that are not as obnoxious as the “oil” which is often fake anyway. Mushroom broth / vegetable broth or home made chicken broth are pretty much the same for rich soups like this one. Commercial cans are too salt heavy even the reduced salt one. Use those on spicy dishes.
Coloured Pallette, why rice the potatoes? You’re going to puree’ them after pressure cooking, anyway. ; )
Ciao,
L
Michael, It would depend a bit upon which mushrooms you are using. According to The Flavor Bible thyme, parsley, shallots and garlic go well with all manner of mushrooms while chives go well with cremini, shiitake and porcini, the latter also pairing with chervil , sage, tarragon and marjoram. Shitake mushrooms also go well with lemongrass and rosemary.