The soup is full of steps. Use them to take you many places.
Sausage and Mushroom Soup
Serves 8
This recipe is perfect for a chilly fall evening. A large tureen of soup and a platter of sausage stuffed mushrooms makes for a delicious and unusual combination of spoon and finger foods. You can easily add a big green salad and some fresh bread to round things out. Yes, you can substitute your favorite store bought sausage in this recipe to make things easier. Here’s the thing, homemade sausage is so much fresher and more flavorful. We like to add vegetables to our blend, it gives the sausage great flavor and texture. Once you’ve experienced how easy it is to make you’ll never look back. Before you know it you'll start experimenting with your own versions.
Pork & Mushroom Sausage:
1600 grams/ 3 ½ pounds pork shoulder
700 grams/ 1 ½ pounds pork belly
20 grams/ 3 1/3 teaspoons salt
60 grams/2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms, ground to a coarse powder
5 grams/ 2 teaspoons fennel seed
4 grams/ 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2.5 grams/ 1 ¼ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1.5 grams/ ¾ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms:
945 grams/ 2 pounds button mushrooms
3 grams/ ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
800 grams/ 1 ¾ pound Pork and Mushroom Sausage
Mushroom Soup:
1000 grams/ 4 ½ cups water
900 grams/ 2 pounds of button mushrooms, cleaned and diced
Mushroom Stems (from Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms)
60 grams/ 2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
150 grams/5 ounces red wine
15 grams/ 0.5 ounces kombu
20 grams/ 4 teaspoons soy sauce
Pork and Mushroom Sausage:
Cut the pork shoulder and pork belly into long strips small enough to fit into your meat grinder and put them into a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt, shiitake mushroom powder, fennel seed, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes and nutmeg over the meat and mix to combine and coat evenly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The following day, grind the mixture through the meat grinder using the ¼-inch die. Grind the mixture twice and then put it into zip top bags and refrigerate.
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms:
Remove the stems from the mushrooms and reserve for Mushroom Soup. Lay the mushroom tops, stem side up, on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Season the mushroom caps with the salt. Fill each mushroom cap with a heaping tablespoon of sausage. The sausage should completely fill the mushroom tops. Cover the stuffed mushrooms and refrigerate until you are ready to serve, up to 24 hours.
Mushroom Soup:
Pre-heat oven to 400°F/205°C convection
Put the pan of mushrooms in the middle of the oven and roast for 30 minutes until the sausage is browned and cooked and the mushrooms are cooked. Remove the mushrooms from the oven and arrange them on a platter.
Meanwhile put the water, diced mushrooms, mushroom stems, dried shiitake mushrooms, red wine and kombu in a pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes and then let the pressure dissipate naturally. Strain the hot stock into a large bowl and half of the sausage stuffed mushrooms. Stir to combine. In small batches, fill a blender halfway and puree the mushrooms and the stock together, starting on low and increasing to high gradually. When the mixture looks homogeneous, turn down the blender and strain the soup through a fine meshed strainer. Serve immediately or cool the soup in an ice bath and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Chill the remaining stuffed mushrooms and reserve until ready to serve the soup.
Put the soup in a large pot set over medium heat and gently bring to a simmer, stirring so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Put the remaining mushrooms on a sheet pan and put back in the oven for 10 minutes to reheat.
Pour the soup into individual soup bowls or into a large serving tureen. Serve the soup with the platter of stuffed mushrooms passed family style at the table.
Years Past
