Mushroom soup

Reunions can be ever-so-heartwarming and so can soup.

Most Russian soups, at least in their classic incarnations, are not pureed, and this one is no exception, it is chockfull of flavor. We didn’t hold back on the mushrooms either. You want to get a spoonful of mushrooms in every bite.

In terms of substitutions, you could substitute vermicelli pasta for potatoes but I would then recommend eating all of the soup in one or two days before it thickens and the pasta turns more starchy.

You’ll need:

• 1.5 qt water
• 1.5 lbs porcinis
• 1 large carrot, julienned
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled, chopped roughly
• about 6 stalks of dill, picked and chopped
• about 4 stalks parsley, picked and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp sunflower oil
• salt, pepper

1. Prepare the mushrooms first: soak porcinis is salted cold water then rinse, dry and chop roughly into approximately 1/4 inch pieces. Chop all of the vegetables

2. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add potatoes to boiling water (*or chicken broth for extra richness).

3. In the meantime, in a pan, saute onions and carrots in sunflower oil, about 3 minutes, until onions are just turning translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes.

4. Add onions, carrots, and mushrooms to the pot, bring back to boil and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

5. Add dill, parsley, salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately with a dollop of sour cream (or without, if you don’t happen to like it as much as Russians do).

This is delicious served with dark rye toasts, rubbed with garlic.

I also bought some fall and butternut squashes at the market so there will be more squash recipes before you know it. Probably pancakes first, then porridge (yes), as a nostalgic nod to my childhood.