Mushroom Soup or Zupa Pieczarkowa

While there are two basic Mushroom Soups in Polish cooking, I decided to make Zupa Pieczarkowa which is made with button mushrooms typically found in grocery stores instead of wild mushroom soup.  After all, it is not the time of year for wild mushroom picking. 

I also wanted to make something simple for Meatless Friday during Lent season.

While you might think this soup is a family favorite for us since we are Polish, I have to admit my brother has always hated mushrooms and my father no longer eats them.  My mother was also never a huge fan of button mushrooms.  So, this soup was really one only I ever enjoyed. 

Thankfully, my husband is a mushroom nut since he was a baby.  To put it bluntly, for Thanksgiving we typically buy $20-30 worth of button and crimini mushrooms.  Even last year, when Thanksgiving only involved our children, my husband, my father, and myself.  I sincerely think that my husband's greatest pleasure in life is when I cook the mushrooms the day before and he steals mushrooms from the pot all day long.



Ingredients:

1 pound White Button Mushrooms
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 Sweet Onion, diced
32 oz. Vegetable Broth
1 tablespoon Flour
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Salt
Teaspoon or two of Apple Vinegar or White Vinegar
Curly Parsley or Dill to garnish, if you like



Wash the Mushrooms well to remove all dirt.  Remove caps and slice.  Trim ends off roots and dice roots finely. 

In soup pot, melt Butter and add Mushrooms and Onion. 

Cook on medium low, stirring once in a while to caramelize the Mushrooms and Onions until the water from the Mushrooms has cooked off. 

Add Broth and bring to a boil.

In a bowl, combine Sour Cream with Flour well.  Add a couple of tablespoons of hot broth and mix well.  Pour into soup and bring gently almost to a boil and turn off.

Add Salt and Vinegar to taste.

If you like, you can add a handful of Curly Parsley or Dill into the pot at this time. 

Serve with good crusty bread.

Smacznego!