Creamy Hungarian Mushroom and Potato Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was craving Hungarian Mushroom Soup--probably because a vegan slow-cooker version I posted a few years ago was on the popular posts feature on my side bar. This will be the fourth version of this soup I have posted; the first, a recipe from Old Wives' Tales-a Portland restaurant where I learned to love this soup. Then there was the Moosewood classic version, and finally the aforementioned vegan version of the Moosewood one. I looked online for a different recipe and found this one from Eating Well magazine that added potatoes to the mix.

Eating Well says, "Mushroom-soup lovers, this soup is for you! Russet potatoes make it hearty, and dill and paprika add plenty of flavor. We skip the generous amount of full-fat sour cream and butter typically used in creamy mushroom soups. Serve with a green salad and warm pumpernickel bread."

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Adapted from Eating Well Magazine Jan/Feb 2011
(6 Servings -- 1 1/2 Cups)

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lbs mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp paprika, preferably Hungarian
2 Tbsp dried dill (I used fresh)
4 cups mushroom broth or reduced-sodium beef broth (I used mushroom)
2 cups low-fat milk (I used coconut milk)
1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (I used low-fat Greek yogurt) 
salt to taste

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates, 10 to 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are very soft, about 3 minutes more. Add flour, paprika and dill and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Add broth, milk and potatoes; cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in sour cream and salt.

Notes/Results: Not a bad version for a lighter one. It lacks some of the joy of the fattier versions and I am not sure the potatoes are needed but the flavor is good. I did make a couple of changes noted in red above, mainly using fresh dill, subbing in coconut milk (which is what I had on hand) and using Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. Because Hungarian mushroom soup isn't all together the prettiest soup and to break up some of the brown, I topped it with a small scoop of herbed creamy cheese--which was pretty yummy when stirred into the the soup. A hearty and cozy bowl to curl up with.  

We have some good friends and tasty soups in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week--let's take a look.

Joyce from Kitchen Flavours is here with Granny Miller's Beef, Potato and Parsley Stew, a recipe from Diana Henry. Joyce says, "My belly is certainly "burp-ily" happy after I had a bowl of this simple and delicious stew! It is light with lots of leek, celery and potatoes, and garnished with more parsley. A simple easy stew to cook, with lots of veggies and potatoes, which are certainly healthy and yummy."

Janet of The Taste Space shares Cozy Red Lentil and Kale Soup and says, "Red lentils, carrot, tomatoes and kale were combined in a flavourful broth made with smoked paprika, Old Bay Seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. I don’t know what made it so flippin fantastic, but it was a nicely sweet soup (from the carrots??) that was balanced by the Worcestershire sauce and fresh garlic finish. It worked really, really well."

Mireille of Chef Mireille's East West Realm made two soups this week. The first is this Yellow Eyed Pea Turkey Meatball Soup and Mireille says, "A few months ago, I won the prize of the monthly blogging event - MLLA - My Legume Love Affair. The prize includes 6 bags of beans of your choice. One of the peas I asked for was yellow split peas. Instead, I was sent yellow eyed peas. It really was no big deal to me and it gave me an opportunity to try a new variety of peas. They taste just like black eyed peas, maybe a slightly less earthy taste."

Mireille's second soup is a Classic Lentil Soup about which she says, "One foundation of French cuisine is mirepoix. Most French soups and stews start with mirepoix. This foundation of French cuisine was brought to the countries they colonized, as this is also how most Moroccan tagines start and many other foods in North African countries that were part of the French empire."

Thanks to Joy, Janet and Mireille for joining in this week. If you have a soup, salad, or sandwich that you would like to share and have featured on a Souper Sundays post, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the sidebar for all of the details.

Have a happy, healthy week!