Sweet Onion, Cabbage and Wild Rice Soup

This humble cabbage, sweet onion and porcini mushroom soup is as simple, honest, and delicious as it gets. Served hot and slurpy with flecks of wild rice, it’s the kind of soup that comforts and fortifies body and soul. Fit this into your autumn and winter lunch or dinner repertoire for a nourishing, earthy boost.

No doubt your inbox is full of beautiful, festive food. Snow-white cakes, glistening with sugared cranberries; pops of vivid orange from all of those Hasselback squashes, drifts of icing sugared candies and cookies. I just love pinning and dreaming at this time of year, and wishing I had time to make everything that takes my fancy. And believe me, a lot takes my fancy.

But sometimes beauty isn’t everything. This is just such a time. What this soup lacks in looks (and it is fairly beastly-looking) it more than makes up for in taste, simplicity and pure comfort. Built on a stock made of ordinary brown onions, slowly magicked from pungent to perfume, this simple melange of humble white cabbage, dried porcini mushrooms and just a palmful of wild rice is truly as good as it gets for a wintry soup. I’ve kept it very basic but any hard vegetables would be welcome: carrots, parsnips, squash, salsify spring to mind. You could also use toasted buckwheat, brown rice or quinoa instead of the wild rice. I happened to have an open packet of a Waitrose red Camargue and wild rice mix, but I’ll use buckwheat another time for extra silky-bodied texture. You can even ditch the dried porcini if it isn’t a store cupboard staple for you.

You’ll also see some little fripperies – crispbreads and dinky little butter-fried figs. I’ve recently been experimenting with my beloved Scandinavian Multi-Seed Crispbread recipe and hit on a version that loves both soup and a cheeseboard. I’ll post it very soon as I think a little package of these with some homemade chutney would make a great gift for fellow food lovers.

So, I’m sorry that I’ve ruined the look of your inbox with my brown ol’ soup. But I’m also not sorry because it is mighty delicious and has a gorgeous, comforting texture. It truly is beautiful on the inside, which is what counts, right?

In and amongst the fancy food, mince pies and cocktails, real meals need to be eaten. Make this up and pop it into the freezer for that time – for it will come – when you can’t face another fancy meal. I was going to say fancy feast, but that’s a cat food brand so I will assume you’ve never fancied that. 🙂

What’s taking your fancy foodwise on Pinterest, Facebook or your inbox? What will you just have to make? 

RIPE FOR PINNING!