This yummy recipe for Mushroom Mageiritsa is a vegetarian version of the classic Greek recipe for Easter soup. Mageiritsa, which comes from the Greek word “cook, or to cook,” essentially is an offal soup, using all the innards that otherwise would be tossed. It’s a way to use everything, the Greek version of nose to tail cooking. In this version, though, the mushrooms replace meat and offal, and the soup is both hearty and filling, as well as traditional in flavor, with lettuce, herbs and the avgolemono finish that defines it.
PREP TIME30minutes
COOK TIME2hours30minutes
SERVES8
Ingredients
10thyme sprigs
10parsley sprigs
15whole black peppercorns
2whole onionspeeled
2whole carrotspeeled
2celery stalkstrimmed
3bay leaves
1cupdried or fresh morels
1poundportobellostrimmed, halved and sliced
1cupdried porcinirehydrated in warm water
2poundswhite or brown button mushroomstrimmed and sliced
12scallionstrimmed, whites and tender upper greens finely chopped
8cupsshredded Romaine lettuce
1cupchopped fresh dill
1cupshort-grain ricesuch as Greek glasé (glazed rice)
Avgolemono:
5large eggsat room temperature
Strained fresh juice of 2 large lemonsor more to taste
Instructions
In a large, deep skillet, heat 1/3 cup olive oil and saute the scallions for a few minutes, until bright green and shiny. Add all the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute for about five minutes, for their flavor to develop. Don’t discard the liquid from draining the morels or porcini. Set it aside to pour back into the vegetable broth.
Add the mushrooms, scallions and all pan juices and mushroom soaking liquid to the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Add the shredded lettuce and dill and cook for a few more minutes, until the lettuce is soft. Add the rice and simmer until soft, about 20 minutes.
Prepare the avgolemono: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice and frothy. Very slowly add 2 to 3 cups of hot soup to the egg mixture, until the egg is tempered, beating vigorously with a whisk to keep the egg from curdling. Pour egg mixture back into the pot and stir well with a wooden spoon. Adjust seasoning with additional salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste, and serve right away, hot.