Mushroom velouté with smoked duck and walnuts
Ingredients:
200 g field or forest mushrooms
1 handful of fresh boletus (optional)
2 tablespoons dried boletus
2 sprigs of fresh onion or 1 shallot
2 carrots
½ head of fennel (optional)
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of dried celery, parsley, thyme and lovage
Black pepper and salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
50 g of shelled walnuts
4 tablespoons of oat flakes
Preparation:
Bring between 1 and 1 ½ liters of water to a boil in a deep pan. Plunge vegetables, coarsely chopped. Season the broth with all the spices above, including the dried boletus. Reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Bake the walnuts in a microwave oven for 3 minutes at 700 watts, stopping the oven every 40 seconds to stir. Let cool slightly and then crush them into chunks.
When vegetables are cooked, add the oat flakes. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, the time to soften the oats. Remove soup from heat. Add the butter, walnuts and olive oil. Mix the soup in a blender keeping some whole mushrooms for decoration.
Serve the mushroom velouté soup hot, garnished with chopped walnuts, slicedsmoked duck and mushroom cubes. A spoonful of cream cheese or other blue cheese would only emphasize the flavor of the soup.