As much as I love hosting Shabbat dinners, by Friday night, I am completely exhausted. I often pull together a quick meal, hoping that I have chicken soup and a homemade challah leftover in the freezer from a previous week. This upsets me, because I’d love to have the time to cook all day on Friday in preparation for Shabbat, but with my demanding job, it doesn’t happen all that often right now.

However, by Sunday, I am rearing to go, ready to make a great meal from scratch. I recently decided to have a dinner party, and to make everything, from bread to homemade ice cream. It was not difficult to invite friends to this meal. Luckily, living in Chicago, I have a large kitchen (probably the size of many NY studios), so it’s not a problem for me to cook all day and make a huge mess.

Mushroom Soup recipe below the jump.

I recently bought the The New York Times Jewish Cookbook at a local used bookstore, and found in it a recipe for a pareve mushroom soup. My boyfriend is a bit obsessed with mushrooms, so I decided to balance out the fact that the salad I planned to make would have beets in it (which he hates) by making mushroom soup. I followed the recipe quite closely, which is unusual for me, only adding chives as a garnish.

I highly recommend this cookbook, and I can’t wait to explore more of the recipes inside.

Mushroom Soup with Chives

This recipe is adapted from the NYTimes Jewish Cookbook, which adapted it from Design Cuisine.

2 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms (caps & stems)
(I used porcini, shitake, button and portobello, but you could use a nice combination of almost anything.)
5 tablespoons olive oil (but really, who measures olive oil?)
2 garlic gloves, crushed
3 large shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
1 quart vegetable broth (water will do, but it won’t be as tasty)
1 cup firmly packed pureed cooked white potato
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Rinse mushrooms quickly and drain immediately. Dry and finely chop in food processor, leaving a couple of mushrooms sliced. With hot oil in large sautee pan, sautee the mushrooms, in batches a single layer deep. When all the mushrooms are cooked, including the sliced ones, return them to the pan, add garlic and shallots and satuee for two minutes longer.

2. In a separate pot, bring the broth to a simmer, Add the pureed potato and stir. Add the mushrooms and slices and any juices to the broth; add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Allow to steep for a few minutes and serve!

Purchase a copy of The New York Times Jewish Cookbook

(Photo from BBC Goodfood)