Today felt like winter. April Fools Day and the fools are certainly us! In the spirit of adjusting to the wet, cold, and windy day, I spent the morning adopting Susan Spungen’s ‘One-Pot French Onion Soup With Porcini Mushrooms’ to make it meat, dairy, grain, gluten, oil and alcohol free. It still packs a punch and its earthy flavour deeply soothes and comforts!
French Onion Soup With Porcini Mushrooms
Ingredients
30 grams dried porcini mushrooms
4 large brown onions, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced with a mandolin
1 large leek, trimmed and thinly sliced with a mandolin
1 medium fennel bulb, top cropped, thinly sliced with a mandolin
1 1/2 tsp grey sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs cassava flour
1 cup dashi (water from soaking shiitake mushrooms overnight) or filter water
1 tsp dried thyme or 3 fresh sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 tsp Herbies umami seasoning
7 cups of homemade vegetable soup stock (no salt or fats added) (for recipe see blog dated 19 January 2022)
Slices of grain-free bread (for recipe, see blog dated 8 January 2022) )
slices of cashew nut ‘mozzarella' cheese’ (for recipe, see blog dated 9 February 2022)
1/2 cup cashew nut ‘parmesan cheese’ (for recipe, see blog dated 10 February 2022)
Method
Bring several cups of filtered water to a boil and pour 2 1/2 cups of boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a bowl. Set aside
Prepare all the vegetables.
Use a large dutch oven. On a medium to low heat cook all the onions covered for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add 1 tsp of salt and continue to cook convered for another 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the leeks and fennel and continue to cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
A few minutes before the vegetables are done, take the mushrooms out of the water and slice. Keep the soaking water.
Take off the lid, increase the flame to high and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes so that the onions start to brown and the excess liquids burns off. Add the flour and continue to stir for a minute or two.
Add the dashi, chopped mushrooms, thyme, bay leaves, umami seasoning and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the dashi has mostly evaporated.
Add the porcini mushroom soaking water slowly being careful not to add any grit settled at the bottom of the bowl. Add the soup stock and bring to a boil covered. Once boiling, take off the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190c. 10-15 minutes before the simmering is done.
Toast 5-6 slices of bread, enough to cover the top of the soup. Slice the cashew nut ‘mozzarella cheese.’
After 30 minutes of simmering, place slices of ‘mozzarella cheese,’ and bread covering the surface of the soup. Sprinkle the ‘parmesan cheese’ over the top.
Place the Dutch oven (without the lid) on a baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes.
Serve hot.