Veloute de Champignons

Making Veloute de Champignons Ahead

Keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Reheat gently and do not boil.

Veloute de Champignons: The Method

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Melt half the butter in a large pan and cook the mushrooms in two batches for 10 minutes each until deep golden and dry. Set a few slices aside.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

2. Return all the mushrooms to the pan with the remaining butter, the shallot and the garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

   Mark done Start 3 min timer

3. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock gradually, stirring. Simmer for 10 minutes.

   Mark done Start 1 min timer

4. Blend until completely smooth. Stir in the cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper and warm through.

   Mark done

5. Serve with the reserved mushrooms on top.

   Mark done

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

Worth Knowing

• Cook the mushrooms until they are dry and deeply browned.
• Add the stock gradually so the soup stays smooth.
• Finish with lemon to lift the flavour.

Behind the Recipe

Mushrooms, butter, stock and cream: four things, and a soup that tastes far richer than the shopping list suggests. The trick is how long the mushrooms are cooked before any liquid goes in.

Slice the mushrooms and tip them into a hot pan with butter, in two batches if the pan is small. They give up a lot of water at first, and the soup will taste flat if you add stock while they are still pale. Wait until the pan is dry and the mushrooms turn deep brown, which takes about 10 minutes. That colour is where the savoury flavour comes from.

A spoonful of flour stirred into the buttery mushrooms thickens the soup, in the way of a classic velouté, and the stock is added gradually so the soup stays smooth. Blend it until completely silky, then finish with cream and a squeeze of lemon, which lifts the earthy taste. Serve with a few sautéed mushroom slices on top and plenty of black pepper.

Serving Ideas

Crusty bread · Thyme croutons · Green salad

Changing the Recipe

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock makes this meat-free without changing the method, if that is what you need.

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Your own rating out of 5

5 stars★ 4 stars★ 3 stars★ 2 stars★ 1 star★

Your note

Save note

Private to you: notes and ratings are saved in this browser only, are never sent anywhere, and other readers cannot see them.