If you're lucky enough to get your hands on that elusive delicacy - morel mushrooms - you can create them in this heavenly soup, loaded with wild rice and a creamy broth rich with flavorful leeks. you can't find morels, and even button mushrooms will taste fantastic.
Every year we spend days trekking through our properties' forested land. Adventuring through thick, tangly underbrush, stumbling over logs, ripping clothes, twigs tangled in hair, and scratches on hands and face. Heck, that's all just pure unadulterated fun with our pup Daizy the queen of adventure, in the thick.
It is all so worthwhile when you've got this to show for it: a treasured hoard of alien-looking, wrinkled, brown, earthy little fungi . . . morels . . . the elusive morels, the mushroom hunter's holy grail.
After hours of hunting, we always come back with baskets full, which is the most fulfilling part of our day! Of the multitude of various options that we can create-- and we do eat them until we are tired of them. Here is our favorite recipe:
Creamy Morel, Leek, and Wild Rice Soup
½ cup of wild rice
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup leeks
1 cup diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried thyme leaves
4 cups (300gms) morel mushrooms, or a combination of morels and button mushrooms, or other mushrooms
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 cups beef or mushroom broth
1 cup whipping cream/heavy cream
2 tablespoons of fresh parmesan as a garnish
Cook the wild rice with the water: bring it to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes until the grains are split and tender.
Drain.
While the rice is cooking, heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the onions and celery in the butter until translucent, about 5 minutes. If using morel mushrooms, slice the caps crosswise and set them aside (you can leave a few caps whole as a garnish). Chop the stems and chop (or tear with your fingers) any button mushrooms you use. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, thyme, and chopped morel stems and/or chopped button mushrooms to the onions and celery.
Cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, the drained, cooked wild rice, and the beef or mushroom stock. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for 10 minutes. Add the sliced morel tops, then simmer for 5 more minutes.
Add the cream, and remove from the heat. You can garnish with fresh thyme, morel caps, and additional grated parmesan cheese.
Serve and enjoy immediately.