Onion Soup with Mushrooms & Trahanoto

Today’s recipe is a very tasty, fragrant and hearty soup. It is a variation of the famous French onion soup, enhanced with a variety of mushrooms and a new type of pasta, trahanoto.

For some time I had in my mind to make a soup with various mushrooms and I was thinking how to “set it up.” Mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients, but a neat mushroom soup looked like a very dull dish. So, I thought to add trachanoto, a new pasta made of wheat, yogurt and milk, which I had seen in various recipes on the Internet and wanted to try. The day that I was going to start testing the soup Katerina from Culinary Flavors published her recipe for the classic French onion soup. That was the perfect inspiration!!       I followed, partly, Katerina’s recipe, I add the remaining ingredients, and the result was excellent! A rich soup, hearty, full of flavors and aromas!

I used three kinds of mushrooms. Common, fresh white mushrooms that we find everywhere and two kinds of dried mushrooms, chanterelles and bolets, or Chile’s porcini. You add the mushroom variety you like. If you do not like dried ones, or if you cannot find them easily, use more of fresh ones. Dried mushrooms, although, add extra flavor and aroma to the dish.

Mushrooms are an excellent food rich in high quality protein (and therefore can replace meat and are an ideal food for vegetarians), fiber, vitamins, minerals, and have little caloric value because they contain small amounts of fat and carbohydrates. Specifically, mushrooms contain B vitamins, vitamin D (essential for calcium absorption), phosphorus, calcium, selenium, zinc, copper and potassium (and are low in sodium).

As for trachanoto, if you cannot find it, use any pasta of your choice, such as frumenty, orzo, pearl barley, etc. Just keep in mind that depending on what pasta you use, you need to figure out the time needed to boil. Trachanoto only wants five minutes cooking. If the pasta you are using needs more time, you have to add it to the pot a little earlier.

Let’s now see the recipe:

Preparation time:   40-45 minutes

Servings:   4, as a main dish

Ingredients:

• 1 cup boiling water
• dried mushrooms of your choice
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 large onions, cut into thin slices
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• 3 large cloves garlic, very finely chopped, or crushed
• 250 g. fresh white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 liter beef stock, hot (vegetarians use vegetable stock)
• ½ cup trahanoto, (or orzo, pearl barley, etc.)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons cognac or brandy
• sliced bread
• ½ – ¾ cup grated gruyere cheese or other cheese of your choice

Instructions:

1. Add the dried mushrooms in a bowl with the boiling water and let marinate for 20 minutes. Squeeze them with your hands to drain, but do not discard water.
2. In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the onions and sugar and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 more minute. Lower the heat slightly and let the onions simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Add mushrooms in the saucepan and sauté for about 10 minutes.
5. Add the water left from rehydrating mushrooms and beef stock and when it boils add the wine and brandy.
6. Let it boil for a couple of minutes and then add the pasta, salt and pepper and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
7. Turn the broiler on. Apply grated cheese over the bread slices and bake until it gets a golden color, 3-4 minutes.
8. Serve the soup in bowls with a slice of bread on it.

Nutritional Facts per Serving
Calories	Carbohydrates	Sugars	Total Fat	Saturated Fat	Proteins	Dietary Fibers	Cholesterol
350	22.1	3.5	14.0	5.2	15.1	6.2	17.6