Carpathian mushroom soup—made with porcini mushrooms—is a traditional first course built on locally sourced, organic ingredients. People in the Carpathians make this dish with forest mushrooms and garden vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and onions, thickening the broth with a fragrant roux of flour, sour cream or cream, and spices. This hearty soup, made with fresh or dried mushrooms, relies on a mushroom-and-vegetable broth enriched with a flour–sour-cream roux and sometimes melted cheese for extra flavor and texture.
Ingredients: 2 liters of water; 100 g dried porcini mushrooms or 1 kg fresh mushrooms; 1 onion; 1 carrot; 1-2 potatoes (optional); 1 parsley root or celery root (optional); 3 tablespoons oil; 1 tablespoon butter; 4 black peppercorns; 1 bay leaf; salt to taste; 100 g homemade noodles or vermicelli (for serving).
Soak the dried mushrooms in water for 2 hours, then rinse thoroughly and chop*.
Prepare the broth using 1.5 liters of water (you’ll need an additional half liter for the sauce). Put 1.5 liters of water in a pot and add the chopped mushrooms, potatoes, and parsley or celery root. Bring to a boil, then add salt, pepper, and the bay leaf. Simmer the broth on low heat for half an hour to develop a rich flavor.
Dice the onion and grate the carrot. Sauté the vegetables in oil until golden brown, then add them to the broth during the last three minutes of cooking**.
In a separate pan, sauté the flour in butter, then add the sour cream, stirring to combine. Gradually pour in the reserved liquid to create a smooth sauce. Add this sour cream sauce to the broth with the mushrooms and vegetables, stir, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Cook the noodles in salted water separately and drain them in a colander***.
To serve, place the cooked noodles in a bowl, ladle the hot mushroom soup over them, and sprinkle with fresh herbs.
Life Hacks
* Clean fresh mushrooms of dirt and rinse them, but do not soak them to prevent excess moisture and loss of flavor.
** There’s no need to rinse cooked noodles when serving them in a hot dish with sauce, because rinsing washes away the starch that helps the sauce cling. Rinse noodles only when making salads, Asian dishes, or casseroles to prevent sticking.
*** When making mushroom soup with melted cheese, add the cheese only after the potatoes and other vegetables are cooked—about 10 minutes after boiling. Stir until the cheese melts and dissolves into the broth.
P.S. For more soup recipes and mushroom dishes, check out our previous posts:
And for insights on the benefits and dangers of mushrooms, gathering rules, cooking tips, and preservation advice, check out these articles:
