Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 227 gram (about a pound) packages white mushrooms

1/3 cup butter

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon roasted garlic (optional)

2 cups brown gravy (I use a powdered mix)

2 cups milk or light cream

Wash and slice mushrooms. In a pot that will hold at least 8 cups, melt butter over low heat, and add Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and garlic. Turn heat up to medium and add the mushrooms. Cook down until tender, stirring occasionally (could take 20-30 minutes). Stir in gravy.

Remove pot from heat and allow to cool. Blend the contents—an immersion or stick blender is best for this as you can do it right in the pot. Add milk. Reheat to serve. It will look quite a bit darker than canned mushroom soup, and has much more mushroom in it. You can serve it over toast if you like.

Makes six or so cups.

While this recipe is a little time-consuming, it’s very easy and quite tasty. Depending on your gravy mix, it could even be vegetarian—many rely on yeast for flavouring and don’t actually contain meat.