Until I came to Finland, the only mushroom i knew was the common white, champignon mushroom. I can’t remember exactly, but maybe I also ate, in a few occasions, shiitake mushrooms, when I ordered some Chinese. That was all!

 

But in Finland, in the heaven for mushrooms, it is hard not to try new types of mushrooms whenever I see them. Among all those that I tried so far, chanterelle (kantarelli in Finnish) is my favourite. It has a beautiful golden colour and a very strong and distinct flavour.

 

 

Especially this year I cooked chanterelle in so many occasions. I cooked it with chicken, I used in omelette and in a vegetarian eggs benedict, I made a chanterelle pie with ricotta.. And of course, I cooked soup with it! Mixed with some spring onion and cream, I just used water but you can also use vegetable or chicken broth. I also topped with chives – my favourite combination for chanterelle.

 

Rye croutons are very easy to make and you can use any rye bread you like. The one I used here was “Reissumies”. If you like, you can also use white bread or some French baguette, anything you want. The addition of rye just feels more Finnish!
—

 

Ingredients:

 

(serves for 2)

 

2 tbsp / 30 ml olive oil
2-3 spring onions
250 gr chanterelle mushroom
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup / 2.4 dl lukewarm water (or broth. You can also use a bit more if you like, I just like my soups generally dense)
1 cup / 2.4 dl cream

 

For topping:
1-2 slices of rye bread
30 gr butter
chives
a few mushrooms (taken from 250 gr above if you like), pan-fried separately with a little bit of butter

 

—
1. In a medium pan, put olive oil and heat for 3 minutes in medium high. Add spring onions and cook for 5 minutes, until onions gets soft, stirring frequently.

 

 

 

 

2. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or maybe a little more, until mushrooms get quite soft.

 

 

 

3. Add salt and pepper. Continue cooking for about 2 more minutes, occasionally stirring.

 

 

 

4. Add water (or broth). Reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

 

 

5. Add cream and continue cooking about 5 more minutes, occasionally stirring. When cooked, you can use a blender to make the mushroom sizes really small. Let the soup rest for about 5 minutes before you serve.

 

 

 

6. In the meantime, prepare the rye croutons. First, cut the bread into cubes.

 

 

7. Put some butter in a pan and add the cubes. Stir and pan-fry the rye cubes with butter until all the pieces are well coated with butter.

 

 

 

8. Serve the soup with toppings: some chives, rye croutons and a few whole mushrooms, pan-fried separately with a little bit of butter.