Vodka Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms have a rich, earthy, sweet flavor and come in many different varieties and textures. Each type of mushroom has it's own unique flavor. Mushrooms contain selenium which is an essential mineral. Selenium works with vitamin E to produce antioxidants. I developed this recipe to be a lower-fat version of my creamy mushroom soup. The vodka and red wine give it a wonderful fullness.














Use about 15 oz of your favorite mushrooms. I used shitake, portobello and garden button mushrooms. I removed the stems from the button mushrooms so I could cook them longer (they are a bit tough).


I chopped one large carrot, an onion, some fresh rosemary and thyme leaves, then combined these with the mushroom stems in a large soup pot. I added 1 Tbsp olive oil and cooked until the veggies were slightly soft.


I covered the veggies with water (about 6 cups) and added salt and pepper, then brought to a boil, reduced heat and simmered for 30 minutes.


In the meantime I chopped the mushrooms and cooked them in olive oil and butter (the butter adds a wonderful flavor, but go easy on it depending on how much you are watching fat). After the mushrooms were tender I added 1/2 cup of red wine and 1/4 cup of vodka and cooked until most of the liquid was gone. I then sprinkled 1/4 cup of flour over the mushrooms and combined, cooking until the powdery flavor of the flour was gone.



Then I added the mushrooms to the the soup pot with the veggies and added 1.5 cups of 2% milk and 1/2 cup of half-and-half. I sprinkled in 1/2 bundle of chopped fresh parsley. And cooked until thickened.

Delicious!