Buckwheat Soup with Mushrooms – Slavic Kasha
A soup with Slavic roots, nourishing and deep in flavor thanks to a mix of mushrooms. Toasted buckwheat brings an unmistakable nutty taste, and it is naturally gluten-free.
Pick out the black grains before cooking. They are the ones that were over-roasted, and they carry a bitterness that spreads through the whole pot.
The cream goes on at the table, not in the pot — stirred in over the heat it can split against the acidity of the mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 125 g buckwheat (discard the black grains)
- 250 g mixed fresh mushrooms (button, portobello or oyster), thinly sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup)
- 1 l water (4 cups)
- 1 bay leaf
- 60 ml heavy cream (double cream) or sour cream, to serve
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme, to serve
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
- 1
Flavor base: in a soup pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, until soft.
- 2
Add the mushrooms and the garlic. Cook everything for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened.
- 3
Add the buckwheat and the bay leaf, having picked out any black grains — those are husk or unhulled seeds, and they stay hard however long the soup cooks. Pour in the liter of water.
- 4
Bring to a boil, partially cover the pot and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the grain is soft and the mushrooms fully cooked.
- 5
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the bay leaf.
- 6
Serve in warmed bowls and finish each portion with a spoonful of cream and a little fresh thyme. The cream goes on at the table, not in the pot, where it could split. Serve very hot.
Slavic Cooking: Tradition, Technique and Comfort
Slavic cooking does something few other kitchens do as well: it turns simple ingredients into unforgettable dishes. Here are the Eastern European classics — from delicate syrniki to a warming buckwheat soup — each one written so the authentic, familiar flavor actually comes out. If you want food that warms from the inside and surprises your guests with something unfamiliar, this is the place.
