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!
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