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    Home » Wild Mushroom Recipes

    Italian Mushroom Soup (Zuppa di Funghi)

    Published: Jan 28, 2023 Modified: Mar 24, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 17 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    Inspired by Italian legend Guliano Bugialli, Italian mushroom soup or zuppa di funghi is one of the best mushrooms soup recipes I've had, and probably the best dried mushroom soup.

    A bowl of mushroom soup with pasta
    Adding small pasta is just one way you can serve this.

    It's an easy soup made with onions, leek, garlic and stock, and can be served pureed or, brothy and rustic. Whichever way you choose, you won't believe how much flavor comes from a few ingredients.

    Traditional Ingredients

    Every version I've seen contains potatoes to thicken it. Some thicken the soup with riced potatoes at the end. I've used Yukon golds and russets so far.

    brunoise diced potatoes on a cutting board
    Dice the potatoes into ¼ inch cubes.
    a sprig of fresh marjoram
    Fresh marjoram.

    Along with potatoes, nepitella (Calamintha nepeta) is traditional. This is a cousin of catmint from Tuscany used to season porcini. I recommend using fresh oregano, marjoram, or "wild oregano" (bee balm).

    Food Processor

    For the best texture, you'll want a food processor to finely chop the flavorful base of onion, shallot, garlic and leek. Chop dehydrated mushrooms by hand.

    Cut onion, shallot, leek and garlic in a bowl
    Onion, shallot, garlic and leek.
    grinding vegetables in a food processor
    A food processor makes mincing easy.
    chopping dried mushrooms on a cutting board
    Chop dried mushrooms by hand.

    Mushrooms

    This is one of the best dried mushroom recipes I've made, and the perfect soup for foragers who can use a mushroom medley. You can make it with fresh mushrooms too. I list different proportions of fresh and dried you can use fungi in the recipe notes.

    many dried mushrooms laid out on a black background
    Use a blend for big mushroom flavor.

    I love using different dried species I pick for this, and every version has been unique. If you're a mushroom hunter, even a few dried morels or black trumpet mushrooms will make a big difference.

    Serving

    This is a versatile soup. It can be pureed for a creamy mushroom soup, or served chunky and rustic with pasta or croutons added at the end. I like it both ways, but I recommend you try the soup by itself with pasta first before you puree it. The texture of the finely chopped mushrooms is fantastic.

    a bowl of Italian soup with croutons and olive oil
    Served with fried croutons.
    A bowl of pureed mushroom soup garnished with chives.
    Roasted cremini, portobello, or shiitake will give it a dark color.
    A bowl of pureed creamy mushroom soup with sour cream and fried mushrooms
    Pureed, garnished with sour cream.
    A bowl of mushroom soup with pasta and parmesan cheese
    With small pasta and parmesan cheese is my favorite.

    More Mushroom Soups

    If you like this, make a note to try:

    • Winter Chanterelle Broth with Pasta
    • Creamy Dried Morel Soup
    • "Last Chance" Cream of Chanterelle Soup
    A bowl of mushroom soup with pasta and parmesan cheese
    Print Recipe
    5 from 15 votes

    Italian Mushroom Soup (Zuppa di Funghi)

    A rich Italian soup made from fresh or dried mushrooms. It can be served pureed or rustic, and garnished with a number of different ingredients depending on how you feel. Makes about 6 cups.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time35 mins
    Mushroom Soaking Time20 mins
    Total Time1 hr 15 mins
    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: Italian Mushroom Soup, Zuppa di Funghi
    Servings: 6 Servings
    Calories: 134kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 3 quart soup pot
    • 1 Food processor

    Ingredients

    Mushrooms

    • 1.5 oz mixed dried mushrooms See recipe notes for substitutions
    • 5 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

    Soffritto

    • 6 oz white onion *see note
    • 3 oz leek
    • 2 oz shallot
    • ½ oz 1 tablespoon chopped garlic two medium cloves
    • 4 oz 1 stalk celery
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil

    Soup

    • 3 oz diced pancetta or bacon Omit if you will puree the soup
    • 8 oz potatoes
    • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
    • ¼ cup dry sherry or marsala
    • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

    Herbs

    • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, marjoram or nepitella or a pinch of dried oregano or thyme

    Serving Ideas

    • 6 oz cooked small pasta like ditalini or croutons *see note
    • Crème fraiche or a comparable substitute
    • Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Grana Padano, or your favorite parmesan
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    Mushrooms

    • Soak the dried mushrooms in the stock for water for 30 minutes. Stir vigorously once or twice as they soak to remove any dirt. Drain the mushrooms, squeezing liquid back into the bowl. Finely chop the mushrooms and reserve.

    Soup

    • Meanwhile, Cut the onion, celery, leek and shallot into ½ inch pieces. Crush the garlic with the back of a knife, peel and roughly chop. Pulse the vegetables in a food processor until finely chopped.
    • In a 3 quart soup pot, sweat the pancetta in two tablespoons of oil until the fat has released and the pancetta is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped vegetables, stir, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms, tomato paste and potatoes, stir, and cook 5 minutes more.
    • Add the sherry and reduce by half, then add the stock and herbs. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
    • Taste and adjust the seasoning for salt until it tastes good to you.

    Serving with Pasta or Croutons

    • Add cooked small pasta and garnish with parmesan, Italian parsley and extra virgin olive oil.
    • Fry croutons in butter and spoon them on the soup and it becomes mushroom minestrone.

    Serving Pureed

    • Puree the soup until smooth in a blender. Garnish with a spoonful of crème fraiche, fried dried mushrooms and chives.

    Video

    Notes

    Notes

    Onions 

    You can mix and match your alliums and onions. Omit the shallot or leek, etc. 

    Fungi

    You can use fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms, or a combination of both. It will always taste better when you use a blend of different mushrooms.
    Chop fresh mushrooms and pulse in a food processor until finely minced. If you want to puree the soup, roast the mushrooms whole for extra flavor. Here are proportions I would use:
    Only dried mushrooms
    1.5 oz dried mushrooms, a large mix.
    Only fresh mushrooms
    10 oz fresh mushrooms.
    Fresh and dried
    ½ oz dried Italian porcini, 8 oz white button or other another cultivated variety, 
    Creamy mushroom soup 
    Substitute 1 cup heavy whipping cream for 1 cup of the stock. 
     

    Nutrition

    Serving: 8oz | Calories: 134kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 452mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 354IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. serene

      January 28, 2023 at 11:18 am

      I have been waiting for you to post a great dried mushroom recipe! I dehydrated piles this past summer and just haven't found the right recipe to use them. I'm horribly excited to try this. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 28, 2023 at 11:27 am

        Have fun. Let me know if you have any questions!

        Reply
        • Sean

          February 01, 2023 at 4:09 pm

          Hmm, sounds like a good use for the load of dried parasols I've been sitting on. Hopefully it'll taste good with those and trumpets and pastina

          Reply
      • Eben

        January 29, 2023 at 3:51 am

        5 stars
        Loving the steady flow of Italian recipes to inspire in the cold winter. I don't know why we seem to get a good selection of fresh mushrooms all year long at our local supermarket, but I suspect that even the Italians have jumped onto the mushroom farming bandwagon. That said, the chanterelles and a few others seem to still follow the seasons.

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          January 29, 2023 at 8:13 am

          Eben! You're lucky. I think we'll have a high of -10 come Monday over here in WI.

          Reply
      • Janis DiSibio

        January 31, 2023 at 6:20 pm

        Ok, I can’t wait to make this soup. To be clear, I use the amount stated for each, onions, shallots, and leeks. Thanks

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          February 01, 2023 at 6:58 am

          Correct. I'm here if you have any other questions. And you can feel free to use what you have: only onions and garlic, only leeks and garlic, etc.

          Reply
    2. Alan Chomica

      January 28, 2023 at 1:16 pm

      Every week or so your posts are truly a timely inspiration in our organic kitchen where we forage or grow 80% of the food we consume. We enjoy your recipes because they allow us to tweak them to suit what we grow in our gardens. I will adapt this recipe today with much less liquid to make a wild mushroom gravy, minus the pasta, that will go great with a meatloaf made from bison, water buffalo and pork. Here on Vancouver Island we are having an early spring and many herbs, and mushrooms too for that matter, are already big enough to harvest from our food forest. In addition to your alliums listed we also include the 'weed' of the day, which just happens to be Bittercress and Blood Sorrel at this time. Keep the great ideas coming. We follow your blog with enthusiasm and make almost all of the recipes you post on a regular basis. Thanks a bunch...

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 29, 2023 at 8:15 am

        Thanks Alan. Yes, everything is meant to be an idea, and I tweak things too. The original recipes mostly used only onion and garlic, but I love alliums so I couldn't resist. Not often I meet someone who spells that name correctly, either.

        Reply
    3. Amy

      January 29, 2023 at 11:38 pm

      Can our local cat mint be used instead of the nepitella? Would that be closer than the other herbs mentioned or are the flavors pretty different?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 30, 2023 at 8:36 am

        I would use oregano or marjoram. I grew nepitella this year, partially just to make this soup, and found I like the taste of oregano or marjoram better.

        Reply
    4. Dave Hedlund

      January 30, 2023 at 6:45 pm

      5 stars
      I had a great year mushroom hunting last year and have a bunch in the freezer and dried. I made a double batch of this soup today. I used mainly pre-sautéed and frozen wild mushrooms with some rehydrated black trumpets. Frozen mushrooms included honeys, chicken of the woods, Aspen oysters, and lobsters. Since the frozen mushrooms were not diced I did a partial purée with the immersion blender to reduce the mushroom bite size. The pasta isn’t obvious in the picture, but was a very tasty addition. I was surprised how the potatoes really thickened it up over the 30 minute cook time. I subbed in the cream for some of the broth. I tasted it first and both ways were excellent. I really liked the parmesan sprinkled on top for serving!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 01, 2023 at 6:59 am

        Glad it worked for you Dave.

        Reply
    5. leslie

      February 02, 2023 at 7:02 pm

      5 stars
      Hi and thank you for this inspiration and template for excellent zuppa. I only want to add that I liked the flavor even better when I added some sherry vinegar at the table and a few drops of truffle oil didn't hurt either.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 02, 2023 at 7:51 pm

        Thanks Leslie. Glad it worked for you. I do like a little sherry vin at the end of some soups, that's a good idea!

        Reply
    6. Jay

      February 03, 2023 at 10:14 pm

      5 stars
      I made this tonight with dried morels, lobsters, black trumpets, and porcini. It turned out great, was an easy to follow recipe, and I will definitely make it again.
      I'm thinking about using all foraged ingredients to make it. What would be a good foraged substitute for the celery stalk?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 04, 2023 at 8:42 am

        Jay, nice to hear from you. Instead of celery you can use another Apiaceae, something like tender wild parsnip stalks, wild fennel stems, Honewort or lovage leaves (added at the end).

        Reply

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    Chef Alan Bergo

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