Spicy Wild Mushroom Soup

What is it about foraging for mushroom that is so exciting? When you spot an edible mushroom (or, even better, a whole bunch of them) you get such an endorphin rush.

What to do with all those mushrooms? If you have a mixed bag of different wild mushrooms you can’t go wrong with a delicious soup, spiced with warm chilli oil and scented with spring onion.

In this recipe I am using honey mushrooms (armillaria mellea), scotch bonnet mushrooms (marasmius oreades), field mushrooms (agaricus campestris) and birch boletes (leccinum scabrum). If you are using honey mushroom for this recipe remember that you first need to blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes to remove their toxins and bitterness, and make them more digestible.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

150 gr mixed wild mushrooms

25 gr butter

20 gr plain flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon chilli flakes

½ teaspoon celery salt (not necessary if you use vegetable stock)

0.5 lt hot water or vegetable stock

2 cloves garlic

2 spring onions

METHOD

Warm the butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on a medium to high heat for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, roughly chopped, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic (sliced or chopped, to your liking). Cook for another 5-10 minutes until most of the liquid from the mushrooms have evaporated and they have changed their texture. Add the flour and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until golden. Add the salt and pepper.

Pour in the hot water and boil on a medium heat for 15 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick add a splash of water.

In the last 2 minutes of cooking warm up 1 tablespoon of oil with the chilli flakes in a shallow frying pan, then remove from the heat to prevent the chilli from burning. Chop the spring onions.

Serve the soup with a sprinkling of spring onions and the warm chilli oil.