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Blueberry mushroom soup

Birch Boletus Mushroom Soup

Fragrant and rich, with the flavor of wild mushrooms! You can use any mushrooms in place of the birch boletus here, including button mushrooms. Made with plain water, it turns out to be a wonderful meatless first course you can serve during Lent.

Pearl

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Birch boletus mushrooms

400

Potatoes (medium)

Rice

Chicken broth (or vegetable broth, or water)

Onion (small)

Carrot

Bay leaf

Fresh herbs

Allspice

Salt

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 20 % 3 g

Fats 27 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 53 % 8 g

74 kcal

GI: 63 / 38 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 43 min

Step 1:

How do you make a wild mushroom soup? First, gather your mushrooms — or, if foraging isn't an option, buy them at the store. Frozen birch boletus work too. Prep the rest of your ingredients as well.
Step 2:

Wash the mushrooms well. Cut large ones into small pieces. I usually halve the medium caps and leave the tiny mushrooms whole — they look appetizing and pretty in the finished soup. Put the birch boletus in a small pot, cover with cold water, and set it on the stove.
Step 3:

Peel and rinse the potatoes, carrot, and onion. Cover the rice with cold water, let it sit 3-5 minutes, then drain.
Step 4:

Once the water boils, skim off the foam, lower the heat to medium, and cook the mushrooms for 15 minutes. Then drain them in a colander and rinse under cold running water.
Step 5:

Cut the carrot into thin batons (or grate it), and finely chop the onion.
Step 6:

Cut the potatoes into small cubes or batons, whichever you prefer.
Step 7:

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and add the onion and carrot to sauté. Cook them to your liking — until the onion is translucent or until lightly golden.
Step 8:

Bring the chicken broth to a boil, salt it, and add the potatoes and mushrooms. Once it returns to a boil, lower the heat to moderate and cook the soup, covered, for about 15-20 minutes (until the potatoes are tender).
Step 9:

Five minutes after the potatoes and mushrooms come to a boil, add the rice. First check the package for the cooking time — mine called for 10 minutes, so I added the rice later than the other main ingredients.
Step 10:

Near the end, add the sautéed onion and carrot and the bay leaf, let it simmer another 2-3 minutes, and take the pot off the heat. Let the soup rest a while.
Step 11:

When serving the mushroom-and-rice soup, sprinkle it with allspice and finely chopped herbs. It's delicious with a dollop of sour cream.

These quantities gave me a fairly thick soup; if you prefer a thinner first course, add a little more broth. Enjoy!
You can use more or less water than the recipe calls for, depending on whether you want a thicker or thinner soup.
Instead of fresh mushrooms you can use frozen or dried (you'll need 5-6 times less dried than fresh). Thaw frozen mushrooms however is convenient (for instance, in the microwave on the right setting — check your appliance's manual) and drain off the liquid. Or, if the amount of liquid isn't critical, use them without thawing. Dried mushrooms should be washed well, since they aren't washed before drying, then soaked in cold water for at least 2-3 hours.
Since everyone's threshold for salty, sweet, bitter, sharp, sour, and spicy is different, always add spices and seasonings to your own taste. If you're using a seasoning for the first time, remember that some are especially easy to overdo (chili pepper, for example).