Cream of Mushroom Soup - Back to Basics - dairy free, gluten free, vegan

I think we have established by now that I love soup. It is getting on towards the end of autumn here in the Adelaide Hills, and after a few mild years, this winter is promising to be FREEZING!

So yesterday while I was out in the Cookie House making jam and relish, I had a pot of beautiful soup simmering away on the combustion stove and there it was, ready for finishing off when I had finished off.

This soup is dairy free, gluten free and vegan (unless you choose to use a beef or chicken stock). It is one of the nicest soups I have ever made, so let’s get started.

Ingredients

Serves four

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small brown onion, peeled and chopped

2 inches of leek, split in half and sliced

1 stick celery, sliced

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, I used rosemary and lemon thyme

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

400g sliced mushrooms

1 litre stock (vegetable, or chicken or beef if you prefer)

100g raw cashews OR raw pine nuts if you don’t eat cashews

Pop the cashews into a cup and cover with boiling water, set aside for at least an hour to soak.

Heat the oil in a medium sized pan to a medium heat, add the onion, leek and celery, cook until you are starting to get a nice bit of colour, add the garlic and the herbs, cook one more minute.

Stir in the mushrooms, I know, I know, it looks like a lot, but they will collapse from this -

To this -

Very quickly. Stir in the potato, add the stock, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for an hour.

Purée the soup until it is mostly smooth. Pour the soaked cashews into the base of a high speed blender or food processor, I use my NutriBullet, process until very smooth, add a little more water to it if you need to, we are looking for a consistency like cream. Stir that into the blended soup, make sure you get all of it, season to taste and enjoy.

MMMMMM!