Slow Cooked Balsamic Mushroom Soup

This mushroom soup, with it’s flavour hit of balsamic, makes for a delicious, earthy Winter meal when you are looking to go meat-free.

Ingredients

• 4 cups boiling water
• 2 cups dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups shallots, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 250ml Lirah Gourmet Aged Balsamic
• 3kg fresh mixed mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• ½ cup thickened cream

Method

1. Pour 2 cups of the boiling water over the porcini mushrooms and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Drain in a colander over a bowl to reserve the resulting mushroom broth, set the mushrooms aside.
2. Stir the cornflour, soy sauce, salt & pepper and remaining 2 cups of boiling water into the broth, set aside.
3. Heat the oil in medium non-stick pan and add the shallots and garlic, stirring until softened. Add the Lirah Gourmet Aged Balsamic, bring to the boil and cook for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.
4. Combine the porcini mushrooms, broth mix, shallot mix, fresh mushrooms and thyme in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for approx. 4 hours until everything is very tender and the flavours have melded. Remove the lid and cook another 30 minutes, until slightly thickened.
5. Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. (For safety remove the centre piece of the lid to allow steam to escape and cover with a tea towel to avoid splatter).
6. Return the pureed soup to the slow cooker and stir in cream. Ladle into warm bowls and serve sprinkled with extra thyme and toasted sourdough.