Wild Mushroom Soupy Stew

This Soupy Stew is the essence of mushrooms. Aside from the mushrooms, the ingredients are few but the taste is magnificently mushroomy. The idea came from a recipe in The Fig Table by Todd English and Sally Sampson called Wild Mushroom Ribollita. But that dish included bread cubes, parmesan and mozzarella cheese. For my taste, allowing those wonderful wild mushrooms to shine was the way to go.

There is not a lot of liquid in this recipe so I call it a soupy stew. If you wish, add more chicken broth. If you don't have all of the mushrooms listed, go ahead and make the dish with what you have on hand.

1 1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes

21 tb. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 onions, thinly sliced

1/2 pound button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

3/4 pounds shitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, trimmed and chopped

1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, including stems, chopped

1 Idaho potato, diced

1 tb. chopped fresh rosemary leaves

6 cups chicken broth or canned low sodium broth

Drain the dried mushrooms, retaining the soaking liquid. Strain the liquid through a coffee filter to remove any silt and set aside.

Place large pot over medium high heat and add the oil when hot. Add garlic and onions and cook until the garlic is toasted, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, mushroom soaking liquid, potato and rosemary and cook until mushrooms have softened, about 20 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serves 6

Note: The dish can be made a few days in advance and reheated.

The additional steps in the original ribollita recipe are: After the mushrooms have cooked for 1 hour, add 3 cups bread cubes, 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 2 balls (4 ozs each) buffalo mozzarella cheese, chopped.

Stir to melt cheeses. Place in shallow bowl and serve immediately garnished with diced tomatoes and chopped fresh basil leaves.