Hearty Mushroom and Farro Stoup with Gruyere Toasts
Quick—like 15 minutes—to tummy warming bowl of soup topped with crunchy cheesy toasts. This soup relies on some flavor packed ingredients to create a depth of flavor in no time at all, and the magic ingredient here is black garlic. Black garlic is an aged garlic that has a deep sweet, savory, tangy almost date-like flavor and the cloves are soft and spreadable. Black garlic can be found online or at most better grocery stores or gourmet markets and they keep in the fridge for quite a while. If you can’t find black garlic, go ahead and roast a small head of garlic and use that. We also have miso and a splash of fish sauce in the mix to provide back notes that’ll create a beautiful long-simmered taste, while goat cheese does double duty as a creamy thickener and a touch of tang.
I like to make this soup in a large pan with high sides or a braiser (I use one from Le Creuset, which is great for this) as the surface area is ideal for sautéing the mushrooms, but a soup pot or Dutch oven will work just fine.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp yellow miso
1 lb. shitake mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves black garlic, smashed and finely minced
2 tbsp flour
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, plus more as needed (see note)
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups farro, cooked
½ cup flat leaf parsley, minced, plus more for garnish
4 oz goat cheese
6 to 8 slices baguette, cut ½” to ¾” thick
2 cups freshly grated gruyere cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
In a large pan with high sides over medium heat, melt butter and add olive oil and miso, then add mushrooms and mix to combine. Season well with black pepper, then arrange mushrooms in a single layer and let sauté untouched for 1 minute or so. Begin to stir so all sides are browned, then add in black garlic. Season with kosher salt and continue to sauté until mushrooms are just tender and lightly browned—about 2-3 minutes.
Add flour and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, then add chicken stock and stir to combine until soup is thickened. Lower heat to medium low and add in fish sauce, lemon juice, farro, parsley and goat cheese. Stir, breaking up the goat cheese with a wooden spoon and simmer for 5 minutes until soup is creamy and smooth. Add more broth as needed, a half cup at a time, until desired consistency is achieved. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Turn broiler on and set oven rack to the upper third of the oven.
Remove pan from heat. Arrange baguette slices atop soup and sprinkle each with gruyere. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove from oven, garnish with parsley, finish with flaky sea salt and serve hot.
Note: Using 4 cups of stock will yield a thicker almost stew-like soup, which is in itself delicious. The farro will continue to absorb liquid as the soup sits, so add more broth as you like to achieve your ideal soup consistency.