French Mushroom Soup | Under a Puff Pastry Crust

Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat. Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in a little lukewarm water for approx. 10 minutes, then drain and finely chop. Clean the button mushrooms and slice them thinly. Peel and finely dice the shallots and garlic. Pick the thyme leaves from the sprigs.

Melt the unsalted butter in a heavy pot. Sauté the shallots and garlic over medium heat until translucent. Add the button mushrooms, chopped porcini mushrooms, and thyme, and fry vigorously for approx. 5 minutes until the mushrooms smell fragrant and are lightly browned.

Deglaze with 100 ml white wine and simmer until reduced by half. Pour in 600 ml vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and simmer gently over low heat for approx. 10 minutes. Stir in 150 ml whipping cream and season generously with 1 tsp fine salt and 1 pinch ground black pepper. Allow the soup to cool briefly.