Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Gombaleves: a creamy, dill-flecked, paprika-rich mushroom soup with sour cream stirred in at the end. Earthy and brothy at once; the sour cream and dill keep it from being heavy. A weekday lunch that punches well above its weight.
Overview
Onions and mushrooms cook in butter until the mushrooms have released and reabsorbed their liquid. Paprika blooms off the heat; flour stirs in to thicken; vegetable stock joins. Dill and milk finish the soup; sour cream is whisked in just before serving with a squeeze of lemon.
Ingredients
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 onion (large, finely chopped)
- 600 g mixed mushrooms (chestnut, plus a handful of oyster mushrooms or porcini; sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 200 ml whole milk
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill (chopped)
- 200 ml soured cream
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ lemon (juice)
- salt
- pepper
- A few extra dill fronds (to serve)
Method
Stage 1 - Mushrooms
- Melt the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat.
- Cook the onion 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the mushrooms; cook 10 minutes, stirring, until they release their liquid and it cooks back off - the pan will go almost dry.
- Stir in the garlic; cook 1 minute.
Stage 2 - Paprika and flour
- Pull off the heat. Stir in the paprika; return to low heat.
- Sprinkle the flour over; stir 1 minute to cook it out (no browning).
Stage 3 - Build the soup
- Pour in the stock gradually, whisking. Bring to a steady simmer.
- Stir in the milk and 2 tablespoons of the dill.
- Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stage 4 - Finish
- Off the heat, whisk a couple of ladlefuls of the hot soup into the soured cream (tempers it so it doesn't split).
- Stir the soured cream mix back into the pan.
- Add the soy sauce, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust.
Stage 5 - Serve
- Ladle into bowls; scatter the remaining dill on top.
Notes
- Don't boil after the cream: Soured cream curdles in a hard simmer. Once it's in, keep the heat off or very gentle.
- Soy sauce in a Hungarian soup: Untraditional but adds depth (umami) that this style of soup loses without meat. Skip if you prefer to keep it strictly Hungarian; salt to compensate.
- Mushroom mix: Chestnuts give body; a few wild or dried (rehydrated) mushrooms give the proper earthy note.
Storage
- Keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat gently without boiling.
- Doesn't freeze well due to the dairy.
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