A hearty soup of deeply browned wild mushrooms, dried porcini and chewy pearl barley simmered with vegetables, thyme and sherry, finished with a splash of cream.
Cremini alone work if wild mushrooms are hard to find. The barley keeps absorbing liquid; thin leftovers with more stock when reheating.
Ingredients
Scale
Measurement units
- 1 ½ lb mixed wild mushrooms
- ½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup hot water
- ¾ cup pearl barley
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 ribs celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
Ingredients
Scale
Measurement units
- 1 ½ lb mixed wild mushrooms
- ½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup hot water
- ¾ cup pearl barley
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 ribs celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Soak the porcini
Cover dried porcini mushrooms (½ oz) with hot water (1 cup) and let them soften for 15 minutes.
Brown the mushrooms
Heat olive oil (2 tbsp) and unsalted butter (2 tbsp) in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown mixed wild mushrooms (1 ½ lb) in batches, about 12 minutes, then set aside.
Equipment: large Dutch oven
Cook the vegetables
Melt the remaining unsalted butter (1 tbsp) and cook yellow onion, carrots and celery (2 ribs) over medium heat until soft, about 7 minutes.
Stir in garlic (4 cloves) and fresh thyme leaves (1 tbsp) until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Equipment: large Dutch oven
Simmer with barley
Pour in dry sherry (¼ cup) and scrape up the browned bits, about 2 minutes.
Chop the softened porcini and add them with their soaking liquid strained through the fine-mesh strainer, then add vegetable stock (6 cups), pearl barley (¾ cup), soy sauce (1 tbsp), kosher salt (1 ½ tsp) and the browned mushrooms.
Cover and simmer until the barley is tender, about 45 minutes.
Equipment: large Dutch oven, fine-mesh strainer
Finish with cream
Stir in heavy cream (½ cup) and black pepper (½ tsp) and warm through without boiling, about 3 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and scatter with flat-leaf parsley (2 tbsp).
Equipment: large Dutch oven
Tomorrow's Meal
Mushroom Barley Risotto-Style Skillet
Leftover soup reduced in a wide skillet until thick and creamy, then finished with Parmesan for a quick barley 'risotto'.
Quick overview:
- 1.Pour leftover soup into a wide skillet.
- 2.Simmer over medium heat, stirring, until most of the liquid is gone and it turns creamy.
- 3.Stir in grated Parmesan and a knob of butter.
- 4.Top with a fried egg or extra parsley.
Before you cook
Cook notes
- • The barley keeps absorbing liquid; thin leftovers with more stock when reheating.
- • Keeps 4 days refrigerated; freeze without the cream for up to 3 months.
- • Cremini alone work if wild mushrooms are hard to find.
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