RECIPE | Cheesy and creamy, a winter-ready soup to warm your week up

CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP & EASY CHEESY TOASTS

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 125ml cream or 75ml yoghurt/75ml cream
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 5 sprigs thyme stripped
• 500g mushrooms roughly chopped
• 500ml beef or vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cheese toast ingredients

• Baguette or white crusty bread, sliced and par-toasted on one side only
• 50g grated cheddar
• 50g grated mozzarella
• 50g sour cream
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

Instructions

Creamy mushroom soup

1. Melt butter and sweat shallots until shiny and sizzling.
2. Add garlic and thyme and stir for a minute, then add mushrooms.
3. Stir well, coating all the ingredients in butter, and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add broth and bring to a bubble — reduce heat and allow the soup to simmer for another 5-6 minutes. While it’s cooking, mix up your sour cream and grated cheese for the toasts.
5. Take off the heat and allow to rest for a minute or two — blend to your preferred consistency, stir in cream (or cream/yoghurt mixture), grind over black pepper, and serve with cheesy toasts. 

Cheese toasts

1. Mix together cheeses, sour cream and mustard and smear onto the uncooked side of bread with the back of a spoon.
2. Place under a grill for 5 minutes as you take the soup off the stove.

Tips: If you like a thicker soup, add less broth or make a slurry of 1 Tbsp corn flour and about 3 Tbsp milk. Pour slowly into your soup for about 3 minutes before completion to allow the starches to cook and thicken the liquid.

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