Chef Lupenga’s mushroom soup, pastry caps

TEMPERATURES have dropped and here is something to warm you up this chilly winter. I love the intensely earthy flavours in this smooth, creamy, mushroom soup, it tastes as good as it looks, a classic. Enjoy!

Ingredients

600g mixed mushroom (button, shiitake and portabella), peeled, washed and finely sliced;

7 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil;

Half-a-bunch each of fresh parsley, thyme, and chives;

1 medium onion, finely sliced;

2 cloves of garlic, minced;

2 celery sticks, sliced;

One-and-a-half litres of organic chicken or veg stock;

75ml of single cream;

4 sheets frozen, thawed puff pastry;

1 teaspoon water;

1 egg;

2 tablespoons sherry;

Half-a-cup of all-purpose flour;

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Method

Add mushrooms to melted butter and olive oil in a sauce pan.

Lightly fry for a few minutes until slightly golden.

Add onion, celery, parsley and thyme — continue to lightly fry until softened.

Sprinkle with flour and mix until well blended and gradually stir in stock, boil and reduce heat to simmer until thickened. Add cream, sherry, seasoning to taste, simmer for two more minutes and blend to smooth consistence.

In a separate bowl, mix in an egg and water, whisk to form egg wash set aside.

Fill a soup bowl half way, top soup with chopped chives, using a pizza cutter, cut out a disc from puffy pastry about half an inch wider than the soup bowl.

Brush the inner edges of the puff pastry and invert the pastry (egg washed side down) over the soup bowl and press the edges on the side to seal, brush cap with more egg wash and refrigerate, rest for 10-12 minutes.

When ready to serve pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Celsius, put covered soup bowls on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20minutes until golden brown and puffed and serve immediately.