Tuscan Mushroom and Gnocchi Soup
Tuscan Mushroom and Gnocchi Soup- If your favorite creamy mushroom soup and your favorite Tuscan pasta had a food baby, we would have this comforting and flavorful soup.
December 14, 2020 by Nicole Collins
What is the ultimate carb?
That's a really tough question to answer, because allllll the carbs are the absolute best!
This question was raised in my online supper club group yesterday, and we were tasked to bring our opening arguments to declare which carb is the greatest of all time.
I didn't have to think twice about my answer. Can you guess what I picked?
POTATOES.
Besides being able to eat potatoes a gazillion different ways and being able to add a gazillion different flavors to them, we can actually transform potatoes into other carbs. A carb that can become other carbs has to be the ultimate carb, right?
Think about it. Potatoes can become donuts. Potatoes can become vodka. Potatoes can become pasta. That basically covers everything we could ever need out of life!
Today, we're celebrating potatoes in its pasta form by making a warm and comforting soup.
So today, we're making Tuscan Mushroom and Gnocchi Soup!
This soup is so easy to put together, has so many simple but special ingredients, and has sooo much flavor bursting out of every corner. The best way I can describe it is to tell you to imagine that your favorite mushroom soup and your favorite Tuscan pasta had a food baby. Today's soup is that baby!
Let's start with the mushrooms. We're going to use 2 kinds of mushrooms, 2 different ways for this soup. First, we'll use some dried shiitake mushrooms to make a quick mushroom broth. All we need to do is let the dried mushrooms rehydrate in some boiling water, and let them steep for about an hour. That's it! The mushrooms infuse their savory umami flavor into the water, and it really helps to deepen the mushroomy flavor in our soup. Now, these mushrooms will be wet and soggy after they soak, so we're going to go ahead and discard them when we're finished.
For our second set of mushrooms, we'll saute some baby bella mushrooms in a little butter along with some onions. We'll wait until they start to caramelize and brown, then we'll add in some garlic and some chopped sun dried tomatoes to the party.
Once our veggies are nice and fragrant, we'll use some white wine to deglaze our pan and add a little depth of flavor to our soup. Cook the wine until it's mostly evaporated, add a little flour to the veggies to help thicken our soup and give it a little body, then it's time to add back our mushroom broth along with some vegetable broth to really start to build our soup.
Once we let everything simmer together for a few minutes so the flavors start to meld, we'll add in some uncooked gnocchi straight to our soup. I like to use the shelf stable gnocchi that you can buy in a package in the pasta aisle, but you can oftentimes find prepared gnocchi in the freezer section, as well. Either way, we're going to let our gnocchi cook right in our soup liquid. Once our little potato pasta nuggets start floating to the top of our pot, it's time to add in our finishing ingredients: a can of evaporated milk for creaminess, a couple handfuls of baby spinach for freshness, and a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese for richness.
This soup is so hearty, so comforting, and so darn delicious. The mushrooms add a savory aspect to the soup. The sun dried tomatoes add an almost herbaceous flavor to the soup. The milk and cheese add a creamy richness to the soup. And, that pillowy gnocchi is the ultimate carb that really makes this soup feel like a full meal.
This soup is proof that we don't need meat to have a stick to your ribs, hearty soup. You won't even miss the meat. I'd call this a total #MeatlessMonday win!
Ok, everyone. It's time to switch gears over to holiday mode, so we have a couple of festive recipes coming up next!
Until then, enjoy! And, let's eat!
Tuscan Mushroom and Gnocchi Soup
Serves: 6 Print
Ingredients:
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp flour
¼ cup white wine
3 cups vegetable stock
1 lb gnocchi
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
2 heaping cups spinach
½ cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Make the Mushroom Broth: In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Remove from heat, add dried shiitake mushrooms, and allow the mushrooms to steep in the water for 1 hour. Remove mushrooms from the broth, and discard shiitakes.
Melt butter in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onions, and saute for 10-12 minutes until the veggies start to lightly brown and caramelize. Add garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 minute until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add wine, and cook for 3-4 mins until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Stir flour into the veggie mix, and cook for about 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, mushroom broth, and salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Increase heat to medium. Add gnocchi, and cook for 4-5 mins until the gnocchi starts to float to the top. Add evaporated milk, spinach, and cheese, and stir until well combined. Taste for seasoning, add another pinch of salt and pepper as needed, and simmer for an additional 2-3 mins more. Remove from heat. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*I prefer the shelf stable gnocchi that you can buy in the pasta section of the grocery store. I love that I can store it in my pantry with my other pasta, and it tastes great. You can also find pre-made gnocchi in the freezer section of the grocery store. Or if you feel ambitious, make your own gnocchi using your favorite recipe!
*You can buy a big bag of dried shiitake mushrooms at an Asian market for just a few dollars, and store them in the freezer. They're great for adding great flavor to a soup broth, and you can basically always have them on hand. You can buy them for a couple extra dollars online, as well.
*Freshly shredded parmesan cheese and the parmesan you buy in the can are not equal. The taste and texture of both is completely different. Make sure you buy a parmesan wedge and shred the cheese yourself for this recipe.
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