Creamy, yet light, Sherried Mushroom Soup

This delectable soup is as easy as it is delicious — a mushroom-lovers delight and fairly low fat. Savor it as a walk-around appetizer in mugs or as a sit-down first course. Conveniently, it can be prepared a day or two in advance and refrigerated. Warm it up on the stovetop or microwave just serving.  Brown-capped crimini mushrooms lend an earthy flavor and inviting, warm color. These mushrooms are also called baby bellas, or sometimes portabellinis, because they are young, smaller versions of more mature portabella mushrooms.  More about mushrooms below recipe. 

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Sherry Mushroom Soup

Sherry wine adds rich flavor, and a dash of soy sauce amps the mushroom umami.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 8 3/4-cup servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb. cremini or baby bella mushrooms, or combination of a variety of mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 small onion, chopped, about 3/4 cup
• 2/3 cup sherry cooking wine, or cream sherry increase salt about 1/2 tsp with cream sherry
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk or 2% increase flour to 3 Tbsp if using 2% milk
• 1 14.5oz. can reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (1-3/4 cups)
• 1-2 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh fennel, optional

Instructions

• Wipe mushroom caps with a damp cloth. Trim stem ends and discard; roughly chop the caps.
  
• In a 6-quart pot, melt butter. Add mushrooms, onion, and sherry cooking wine. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes or until most, but not all, of the sherry is absorbed.
• Sprinkle flour over mushrooms; stir in milk, broth, soy sauce and sage. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat. Simmer gently 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove soup from heat. If desired, puree soup, or leave chunky. Use an immersion blender to puree. Or pour into a blender in small batches, blending very slowly if mixture is hot; blend until smooth and return to pot to keep warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve garnished with chives or parsley, if desired.
  

Notes

From the Mushroom Council, San Francisco Bay Area
Crimini Mushrooms are grown and harvested in the same manner as the white mushroom. The reason they have a darker color and slightly denser texture is that they come from a different strain of spores.  Portabella Mushrooms are also grown like white mushrooms. Actually, the Portabella is a mature Crimini. It’s usually three to seven days older than the Crimini when harvested. As a result, Portabellas develop much larger caps-ranging up to six inches in diameter.

Nutrition information per serving (8) with cooking wine and reduced-sodium chicken broth: 120 calories, 5g protein, 11g carb, 6g fat, (3.5g sat. fat), 15mg chol, 290mg sodium,<1g fiber