Creamy Green Garlic Soup with Sautéed Morel Mushrooms

Kindi Lantz July 18, 2019

Green Garlic and Morel Mushroom Soup

Late spring and early summer is such a wonderful time to venture to a farmer’s market. There is an abundance of seasonal ingredients, carrying young, fresh, unique flavors not found later in the season—ingredients like green garlic! Everyone, aside from vampires, loves garlic, but the flavor can sometimes be a bit overpowering. The same is not true for its youthful version of self. Green garlic has a mild garlic flavor and makes a wonderful soup, sauce, or addition to roasted vegetables. 

Another fantastic spring anomaly is morels. Unfortunately, morels are very temperamental when it comes to growing, and if everything is not just perfect, they can be hard to come by. Last year, it seemed as though every stand at the farmer’s market had fresh morels, but this year, that’s just not the case in my neck of the woods. 

The inability to source fresh wild mushrooms doesn’t mean you or I need to suffer culinary depression, though. Dehydrated mushrooms preserve flavor incredibly well, and because mushrooms act similarly to a sponge, they bounce right back into their original shape and texture. Morels are no exception.

I started dreaming up a creamy green garlic and morel mushroom soup long before springtime came around this year. I had a hunch that the lack of forest fires that hit the area last year would lead to a shortage of the delectable fungi, though. So I ordered some dehydrated morels and wasn’t the least bit saddened to be using them instead. In fact, the dried version actually contributed to an enhanced level of mushroom flavor because I had an earthy broth to use in the soup!

Creamy Green Garlic  & Morel Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 3 cups water
• 1 ounce dried morel mushrooms
• 1 large carrot
• 1 celery spear
• 2 shallots
• 2 cups baby bella mushrooms
• 2 bunches (approximately 40) green garlic scapes
• 2 large russet potatoes (about 3.5 cups)
• ⅓ cup butter
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• Optional, truffle oil for drizzle and parsley for garnish

Procedure

1. Place water and morels together in a container to rehydrate mushrooms.
2. Melt the butter in a large soup pot.
3. Roughly chop all the vegetables and the baby bella mushrooms and add them to the pot, cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
4. Pull the rehydrated morel mushrooms from the liquid and set aside
5. Add the mushroom broth, black pepper, salt, rosemary, paprika, sage, and thyme to the vegetables and turn to medium-low, cook for 45 minutes
6. Add the milk and use an immersion blender to purée to smooth. Stir in the cream and turn to low to bring the heat back up. . 
7. Meanwhile, slice the morels into rings and sauté over medium heat in olive oil for about 10 minutes, stirring often. 
8. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

Serving Suggestions

Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle truffle oil in a circular motion over the soup to create a swirl. Top with a hefty amount of sautéed morel mushrooms and sprinkle with a bit of parsley. 

Can you use fresh morel mushrooms for this recipe? Sure, but they are only available for a short time each year. That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor! Dried morel mushrooms work wonderfully in this dish!

Find top-quality, dried morel mushrooms here.