Acorn Squash Soup with Porcini Mushroom Cream and Wild Mushroom Goat Cheese Toasts

A Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge? I’d love to participate!

That sums up my response when I received an email from Justin of Marx Foods a couple weeks ago. I was invited to participate, and after accepting the offer, a box soon followed in the mail.

In this box were five – ½ oz sample packs of dried mushrooms – Porcini, Lobster, Morel, Matsutake, and Black Trumpet. To conclude the note that accompanied them, Justin wrote:

One of my own personal pet peeves is when restaurant menus say that a dish is made of wild mushrooms when it is only portabellas, shitakes, or other cultivated varieties. This box contains only mushrooms that are actually hand-foraged from the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

As you can imagine, I was even more thrilled I had accepted the challenge.

My mission? To create a recipe using any or all of the mushrooms in the box.

This recipe will be put up for a vote on the Marx Foods blog.

What could I win if my recipe is voted the favorite? Three shipments of fresh wild mushrooms, one of which can be Oregon Truffles instead of mushrooms!!

I knew right away that I wanted to draw on the flavors of fall and having bought an acorn squash just before the mushrooms arrived, I decided this winter squash would be the mushroom partner. I also decided I wanted to work with the three mushroom types I had received which I’d never cooked with before – Porcini, Lobster and Matsutake.

Having chosen soup as the main attraction, I needed some type of sandwich on the side. A simple toast with herbed goat cheese topped with caramelized onions and wild mushrooms seemed the perfect solution.

Just as I was hoping, the earthy flavor of the Porcini mushrooms in a rich cream sauce paired nicely with the slightly sweet acorn squash. It went together even better than I expected, if I do say so myself.

I think Lobster mushrooms may be my new favorite. The combination of the tart goat cheese with the mushrooms goes so well with the soup.

So here you have my entry to the Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge by Marx Foods. If you like it too, I’ll let you know where to vote around October 18!

Acorn Squash Soup with Porcini Mushroom Cream

Porcini Cream

½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
½ tbsp olive oil
2 tsp onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp white whole wheat flour
1 cup milk or cream (I used a half and half and 2% milk combo)
¼ cup fresh parmesan, grated
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Acorn Squash Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ large onion, chopped
2 tbsp apple, diced
1 pinch dried sage
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 acorn squash, roasted, flesh removed and mashed
2 cups of mushroom soaking liquid

Make the Cream:

Submerge the dried mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water for at least 20 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and pat dry, reserve the soaking liquid.

Dice the mushrooms. Heat ½ tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the onions and mushrooms are tender. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Add the milk or cream a little at a time whisking vigorously to prevent clumps. Continue to whisk as the sauce thickens. Once it reaches desired consistency, preferably when it coats the back of a spoon, remove from heat. Stir in the parmesan, salt, pepper and cooked mushrooms and onions.

Set aside, but stir occasionally to prevent a film from forming on the top.

Make the Soup:

Heat the olive oil in a small soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft. Add the apple, sage, salt and pepper, and cook about 3 minutes more.

Stir in the acorn squash and slowly add the mushroom soaking liquid. Heat through and allow to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.

Divide the soup into bowls and garnish generously with the mushroom cream. Makes about 4 appetizer-sized servings.

Wild Mushroom Goat Cheese Toasts

½ oz mixed dried wild mushrooms (I used Lobster and Matsutake)
½ tbsp olive oil
¼ onion, thinly sliced
2 oz herbed goat cheese
8 slices toasted bread or baguette

Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least 20 minutes. Dry on a paper towel and finely chop.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-heat. Add the mushrooms and onion. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until onions are browned and mushrooms are tender.

Spread an even amount of goat cheese on each toast. Top with the onions and mushrooms. Makes 8 toasts, two for each person.