Polish Wild Mushroom Soup
A a really good Polish wild mushroom soup is very often made with foraged mushrooms, since mushroom hunting is a national pursuit in Poland. I used some beautiful winter chanterelles (kurki in Polish) but you could very easily use a mixture of dried forest mushrooms with a few fresh mushrooms thrown in. It's worth the extra step making the stock, but if you are short on time, you could use shop-bought stock, too.
Ingredients
To make the fresh stock:
- 1 kg pork ribs omit for vegetarian version
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 2 stick celery
- 10 g fresh parsley
- 2 litres of water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 – 3 allspice berries
- Or use 1.5 litres of shop-bought or stock made with chicken or mushroom stock cubes
- 40 g dried mixed forest mushrooms soaked in 1 cupful hot water
- A handful of fresh mushrooms such as chanterelle, chopped
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 large onion very finely chopped
- 150 ml double cream
- 100 g wide egg noodles or kasza barley groats
- 3 tsp cornflour optional mixed with a little cold water
- Fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- To make the stock: Roughly cut up the carrots, celery and onion. Add them to a large pot with with the pork ribs (if using) and pour over 1.5 litres of cold water. Add the parsley, bay leaf and allspice berries. Simmer the stock on a very gentle heat (barely boiling) for an hour. Skim any foam that forms with a large spoon and discard. Strain the stock. You can use the pork ribs to make these roasted ribs.
- For the mushroom soup: Strain the soaked mushrooms to remove grit. Chop the mushrooms finely. In a large pan, add the butter and olive oil. Cook the onions for 5-10 minutes until soft.
- Add the mushrooms and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Pour in the strained rib stock that you made earlier (or 1.5 litres of bought stock) and bring to a boil. Add the liquid from the soaked mushrooms too, avoiding the grit. Simmer for 25 minutes.
- To finish: Cook the pasta or kasza/grains according to instructions and drain.
- Stir in the cream. If you would like a thicker texture to the soup add the cornflour and stir well. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes.
- Place the pasta or kasza in the serving bowls and ladle over the soup.
- Garnish with parsley. Smacznego! (Bon appétit!)