Wild Rice Mushroom Soup

• servings: 6
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup dry wild rice (you can use a blend for more color contrast)

8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced (sub with whatever mushroom you want).

1 onion, finely chopped

¾ cup finely chopped carrots (about 2 big carrots)

½ cup finely chopped celery (about 2 long pieces)

6 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 quart vegetable broth

1 cup water

⅔ heavy cream (sub cashew cream for vegan)

⅓ cup parmesan cheese

⅓ cup dry white wine

3 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried rosemary

2 tbsp aleppo pepper (or another spicy chili, optional)

2 tsp dried sage

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp salted butter (sub more olive oil for vegan)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add the butter and olive oil to a large saucepan and heat them over medium high heat until the butter has melted.

Add the mushrooms to the pot with a pinch of salt and cook until they are starting to brown and there’s fond in the pot, about 6 minutes. Add the onions, scrape off the fond, and continue cooking until they’re translucent and beginning to brown, another few minutes.

Add the carrots and celery along with a pinch of salt. Stir to scrape off the fond and cook until the carrot and celery are starting to sweat. Add in a bit more olive oil along with the wild rice and aleppo pepper. Turn the heat up to heat and cook, stirring often until the rice has a nutty smell, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to allow anything to burn.

Add the white wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up the fond. Continue cooking on high heat until the alcohol has mostly burned off, then deglaze again by adding the stock and water. Add the other dried herbs here along with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Bring the mixture up to a boil and simmer on medium-low / low heat, covered. Cook until the rice is tender, 45-60 minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, adding it in bunches so it doesn’t clump up. Add more water to achieve your final desired texture. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed, then serve hot.

Notes

A simple American soup that’s sometimes also called “Minnesota Wild Rice Soup”. It combines a classic mushroom soup base with hearty wild rice and herbs for a super satisfying winter meal. Goes great with crusty bread. Wild rice is just a variety of whole grain brown rice and is more chewy than white rice, which works great in a soup.