Wild Mushroom Barley Soup
This light, tomato-based barley soup uses a variety of mushrooms and allows you to experiment with many different types. Almost every farmers’ market has a mushroom stand and local supermarkets now carry a full array of wild and cultivated mushrooms. We’ve especially loved discovering Japanese enoki mushrooms, which are particularly tasty when frizzled and used as a garnish, as we do here. We cook the components of the soup separately then assemble them just before serving to ensure a clear, clean modern flavor. You can enrich the flavor by adding butter to the soup just before serving—but, of course, this is optional.
½ cup pearled barley
2 quarts plus 1½ cups water
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon if needed
3 leeks, white and light green parts only, washed, halved, and sliced into ⅛-inch half circles
6 medium shallots, diced (about 6 tablespoons)
1 cup celery root, peeled and chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, cut into ½-inch discs (about ¾ cup)
1 medium garlic bulb, cloves separated and minced
8 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced; or 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, juice reserved for another use
2 quarts vegetable stock
6 fresh thyme sprigs, tied with unbleached kitchen twine
3 pounds assorted wild mushrooms, such as shiitake, cremini, oyster, chanterelle, and maitake, sliced thin or torn into pieces
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces enoki mushrooms, for garnish (optional)
1 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
½ bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)
To cook the barley, bring 1½ cups water to a boil. Add the barley, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
Fill a medium pot with 2 quarts water and add the dried mushrooms. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and allow the mushrooms to rehydrate, about 30 minutes. Spoon out the mushroom pieces, chop, and set aside. Strain the cooking water to remove all the sediment and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the leeks and shallots and sauté until they begin to color, about 5 minutes. Add the celery root, carrots, and garlic and sauté until the vegetables soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the soaked mushrooms, their soaking water, the tomatoes, stock, and thyme. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the broth is flavorful and the soaked mushrooms are tender. Discard the thyme sprigs.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add one-third of the wild mushrooms and sauté until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat twice with oil and the remaining mushrooms. Add the salt and pepper and set aside.
If using the enoki mushrooms, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in the same skillet over high heat. Add the enoki and cook, stirring, until frizzled and golden, about 3 minutes. Set aside for garnish.
Add the sherry and the barley to the soup pot and simmer. It will take about 10 minutes to reheat. Just before serving, add the wild mushrooms, half of the parsley, and the butter, if using. Ladle into bowls when piping hot, sprinkle with the remaining parsley, garnish with enoki, if using, and serve.