A creamy soup made with fresh morel mushrooms is a thing of beauty, and the fact that it can only be made for about two weeks out of the year adds to the allure. While there's a number of morel soups on this site, they're all made with dried mushrooms. Dried morels are very good. But, between you and me, dried morel soup I'll serve to guests, a soup of fresh morel mushrooms I'll make for myself.
Special thanks to Kristi from South Dakota who sent me a request to share my recipe last Spring.
As I type this I have an 80 quart pot sitting on all four burners of my stove simmering six gallons of my creamy dried morel soup to serve at the Morels and Memories Fundraiser this afternoon. I stir it with a wooden stick the size of a canoe paddle.
One of the best parts about soup is it's a perfect way to stretch morels as far as they can go so as many people can get a taste as possible. 1.5 lbs of dried morels went into my soup that will serve around 250 people, which is much more difficult to do with fresh mushrooms.
How to Make It
It's never a bad time for a quick refresher on morel processing. As the morels need to be cut up, this is a good recipe for those large morels found at the end of the season, especially if you like to fry the first thumb-sized flush like I do.
Clean the morels by swishing them in cold water, then laying them out to dry on a paper towel. Ideally they'll be stored for a day or two so the towel can soak up the water they absorb. I like to store mine in a hard-sided container or wrapped in paper towels in a big zip loc if I have a lot.
To make the soup, first The morels are cut into bite sized pieces. This is why older, larger morels are perfect here, but you could also use smaller mushrooms cut in half or into rings. Next a white mirepoix of celery, onion and leek is cooked in butter.
It's very important to cook the vegetables on medium heat slowly until they're tender. It should take at least 15 minutes. I also add a small pinch of chopped fresh thyme leaves. After the vegetables are softened the morels are added and cooked slowly until they're completely wilted.
Next flour or gluten free flour is added and cooked for a minute, then the pan is deglazed with a splash of white wine. Chicken stock is added in batches-a little at a time, in order to prevent lumps.
Once the stock has been added the mixture's simmered for a few minutes more before the cream is added. While it's optional, a little manoomin or parched wild rice (don't use the cheap black paddy rice) is added at the end.
The mixture's simmered for a few more minutes to blend the flavors. While it can be served right away, like most soups it's better chilled and reheated the next day so the flavors can blend. Garnish it with a few chive flowers or a drizzle of ramp leaf oil if you want to gild the lily.
Related Posts
- Stuffed Morels with Crab
- Jacques Pepin's Chicken with Morel Sauce
- Baked Morels with Garlic Butter (Escargot)
Cream of Mushroom Soup with Fresh Morels
Equipment
- 1 3 quart soup pot
- 1 wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow onion diced ¼ inch
- 1 cup celery diced ¼ inch
- 1 cup leek tender white and green parts only, diced ¼ inch
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 8-12 oz fresh morel mushrooms
- 4 cups chicken stock
- ¼ cup dry sherry or white wine
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- A handful of chive blossoms to garnish, optional
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup cooked natural wild rice or manoomin
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 3 quart or similarly sized saucepan. Add the celery, onion and leek and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Take your time and make sure the vegetables are well cooked.
- Add the morels and thyme and cook until the mushrooms are wilted, about another 5 minutes, seasoning with a pinch of salt. The morels will cook faster if you cover the pan, just make sure not to burn the bottom.
- Add the flour and stir to combine, the mixture will get thick. Add the wine and stir well, making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, stirring constantly, then add the rest. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook until the mixture is thickened, another 5 minutes.
- Add the cream and simmer until lightly thickened. At this point, if you want a smooth soup you can pulse it with a hand blender, if you do, omit the wild rice.
- Add the wild rice if using. Taste and adjust the seasoning for salt to taste and serve garnished with chive blossoms.
- The soup will be thicker and improve in flavor if it’s allowed to rest for 8 hours or overnight before serving. It will last in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Pete
Thanks for posting this, Alan. I was a tad short on morels (stupid dry May) so I went 50/50 with golden oysters. I also subbed in chopped ramp leaves because I couldn't find decent leeks. Even with these edits, the soup is outstanding!
Alan Bergo
Thanks Pete.
Pete
My excellent daughter gave me your book for Christmas. I'm currently working on a jar of your spruce tip syrup.
Alan Bergo
Good luck Pete leave a comment if there's anything I can help with.
Roberto
That wild rice looks very familiar. Did you source it from Moose Lake Wild Rice?
Alan Bergo
Yes. It’s my fav for bulk purchasing.
Roberto
Me too.
Laura Nevins
Thank you for another inspiring email! I especially appreciated the tip about cleaning the morels and storing them for a day or two. Years ago there was a small cafe in Rochester, NY where we all made a yearly pilgrimage to enjoy a similar soup that also included fiddlehead ferns.
Kim
We just made this today where it’s cool and rainy in Michigan. We had found morels a couple days ago and we are also lucky to have loads of ramps, so we added ramp greens. It tasted wonderful! Thank you!
Alan Bergo
Hey thanks Kim that’s great. Ramps a shoe in!
Carla Beaudet
"One of the best parts about soup is it's a perfect way to stretch morels as far as they can go so as many people can get a taste as possible." True that, but I've been playing with koji-making of late, and one thing I made was a morel shio-koji. That becomes essentially liquid morel salt. I used a rough 1/4c. of dried morels in a 2c. batch of shio koji, and did that ever stretch the flavor! In that experiment, I fed 1/4c. of almost every kind of dried mushroom on the shelves to 1.5c. rice koji, water to fill the jar plus 5% salt by weight of the total. 5 days at room temperature loosely lidded with a daily shake (Tighten that lid before shaking; I learned the hard way!), then blend. Store at cool temperatures; most of these shios last for a month or two in the cellar before developing off flavors (acetone, anyone?).
Linda Reinhart
Oh man! You do know how to torture a southern Minnesota ex-pat! I have my last crumbs of south Minnesota morels in a small jar that I keep just to breathe their aroma every so often. The morel varieties even in northern Minnesota don't come close. Enjoy an extra serving and think of me.
Laura
My friend found lots of Golden Morels in Indiana several years ago, enough to fill two styrofoam coolers without decimating the patch. Yikes! It was my first taste of Morels and it's hard to describe the greediness felt for its extraordinary yummy taste. Best taste ever. Since then we haven't seriously looked for Morels in MN; and of course no mushroom hunter worth their salt is EVER going to reveal their special morel spots. So sigh... dried morels it is unless we get serious in our search. Plus there's more interest now so more competition. Can I come over for dinner?
Bryan Rakovec
Man does that look good. Morel season was not that great here. Wish I had more.