Prepare yourselves, my friends, for this post is a triple threat-3 recipes in one post. Whoa, what happened, Julia, you might ask. Well…you see I got an unexpected Friday off and here is the result.
Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
Seriously who doesn’t have a love-hate affair with a cream of mushroom soup. I am talking about the one that comes from a can. I remember it being a staple in my pantry when I was newly married until I realised just how unhealthy it was but…Oh So Delicious. Yet it has nothing on the delicate and earthy flavours in this homemade version. Are you still with me?
Sautéed Curly Kale with Garlic and Bacon
Both Cream of Mushroom Soup and Sautéed Kale are dishes in their own right and if you are looking for something new for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table look no further. This soup is a perfect starter and a quickly sautéed in olive oil curly kale with garlic and bacon is a simple and delicious side dish that will compliment your bird.
So you understand how over the top “homey” and “nostalgic” this pasta bake is since I combined all of the above in the final recipe? Rigatoni is smothered in creamy mushroom soup that was made with a mixture of crimini mushrooms and dried porcini mushrooms with an addition of shallots and thyme. This soup is seriously flavourful and creeeeamy! Then pasta, swimming in creamy mushroom goodness is tossed with sautéed with garlic, olive oil and bacon curly kale. I know it sounds incredible but I am not done yet. I finished it off by sprinkling the top with mozzarella and baked it until the cheese was bubbly and golden. Enjoy, friends!!
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots chopped
- 1 tbsp of flour heaped
- 500 gr Crimini mushrooms
- 1/2 cup dried Porcini mushrooms
- 1 1/2 litre/6 cups-chicken or vegetable stock
- 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves only
- 1/2 cup double cream/heavy cream
- salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200 gr curly kale chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 125 gr lean thickly sliced bacon chopped
- salt
- 3 cups cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated and divided
- 500 gr Rigatoni or any other short pasta
- 1 recipe of sautéed kale see above
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Soak dried porchini mushrooms in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes.
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In a large saucepan cook chopped shallots in 1 tbsp of olive oil over low heat for 5 minutes.
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Add flour and mix well, then add fresh thyme leaves, chopped Crimini mushrooms and Porcini mushrooms, reserve the water Porcini mushrooms were soaking in for later use.
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Cook while stirring for 10 minutes then add stock and 1/2 cup of the water Porcini mushrooms were soaking in.
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Bring to a boil and cook for 10 more minutes, then stir in cream.
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Process in a food processor or a blender in batches when the soup is slightly cooled. Then return to the pot and reheat it, taste and add salt if needed.
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The recipe makes about 6 cups.
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Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan, add chopped bacon and cook for for 5 minutes oven medium high heat.
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Add sliced garlic and cook for 1 minutes.
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Add chopped kale and a pinch of salt and cook while stirring continuously over low heat for 5-7 minutes until kale is soft.
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Preheat the oven to 375F/190C
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Cook pasta according to the package instructions. It's important not to overcook pasta at this stage and cook it al dente as it will be baked later.
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Toss pasta gently with 3 cups of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella.
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Add sautéed kale and put it in a large pan, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 375F/190C.
* Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie’s Comfort Food”.
This is awesome and such beautiful photos. Love the 3-in-one thing 🙂
It all started out with one thing but somehow ended up here. 🙂 Thank you, Jennifer.
oh my gawd, this is like TWO fabulous recipes in one! I love that you made your own cream of mushroom soup!!! and the rigatoni bake looks phenomenal!!! just wow!! can’t wait to try this!
Thank you, Alice, you are too sweet! 🙂 That mushroom soup is to die for…no kidding.
I love a good pasta bake! This looks so cozy and tasty, perfect winter comfort food!
So true, it’s hard to live off salads when it’s so chilly outside!
That pasta bake has my name written all over it! As much as I LOVE pasta that’s probably one of very few meals I cook as I have ZERO self control.
I know what you mean but this cream of mushroom soup is pretty darn healthy, very little creamy in it but mostly mushrooms and shallots so if you choose your “poison” I’d say go with this one. 😉
I love all this food! I’ve never had this kind of mushroom soup but it looks awesome! Were all of these taken with the artificial light too? The photos look great!
Thank you, Marina! I make this soup rarely but every time I do my husband tells me we need it in our lives much more often. These photos were taken at daytime but with very little light, I mean almost non-existent and I think it shows. 🙁
Only on one of them I think it shows, the rest seem to be perfectly fine. I think the picture quality improves if you shoot on white background when there’s limited amount of light, even the pictures with the towels in them seem to be brighter 🙂
hi! can I use whipped cream for the mushroom soup instead of heavy cream? thanks
Hi Joliza, you can use whipping cream instead of heavy cream. They are basically the same thing with slightly different fat content.