Bella Mushroom Soup, or "Beautiful Mushroom Soup!"

Tonight, I went shopping for soup ingredients--tomato basil soup, wild mushroom soup, you name it! I've been meaning to bring my friend Sam some fresh soup to help with his recovery from having his wisdom teeth removed. Alas, my silly schedule, bad planning, and inability to bring him soup left me with...well, an abundance of soup.

I've had my kitchen cookbook open to a wild mushroom soup recipe for a long time, and finally made it.  I'm so glad I did--not only is the soup creamy, earthy, and flavorful, but it is also really simple and cheap to make (as are many of the recipes on my blog).  It was, well, clearly delicious.

Bella Mushroom Soup
The original of this recipe comes from 400 Soups  by Anne Sheasby (Hermes House, 2008) and is meant to be prepared with wild mushrooms such as Porcinis.  However, Bella Mushrooms work equally as weoo in this beef and cream broth with leeks.
  
Ingredients

* 3 cups chopped Bella Mushrooms
* 5 cups beef broth
* 3 cloves garlic, pressed
* 2 leeks, thinly sliced
* 1/2 white onion, chopped
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 teaspoon thyme

1.) First, prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time--wash all ingredients, chop the mushrooms, thinly slice the leeks, chop half of an onion, and peel several cloves of garlic.  Set aside.

2.) Combine olive oil and butter in a large pot and heat up.  Add leeks, onions, and pressed garlic and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
3.) Add mushrooms and allow to simmer for several minutes, or until properly moist.
4.) Add beef broth and bring to a boil.
5.) Turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer in a half covered pot for 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme.
6.) After 30 minutes, remove 3/4 of the soup and puree in a food processor or blender.  Return to mushroom soup pot and add 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream.
7.) Serve with fresh thyme sprigs and enjoy!

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