Mushroom, Bacon (or Celery) and Marscapone soup

Australia has decided to send a storm across to us and as Spring has gone into hiding, I have gone back to Autumn for inspiration today. Something warm, heavy and comforting is called for and mushrooms and bacon fit the bill here for me, along with some marscapone to add a thick, creamy comfortness. Oh, and a touch of thyme as well, just to remind us that Spring will soon be back again. I used free range smoked bacon but if you are vegetarian I would swap it for a stick or two of celery which will taste different of course but give the same effect.

- Peel and chop an onion and set to cook slowly in some olive oil along with a couple of rashers of bacon chopped up.
- Leave to cook slowly until the onion is soft and turning golden.
- Add in a small palmfull of thyme leaves and a couple of handfulls of mushrooms roughly chopped.
- Pour over a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the mushrooms are cooked, ten to fifteen minutes I should think.
- Blend the soup smooth and return to the saucepan.
- Spoon in a tablespoon or so of marscapone cheese, some salt and ground black pepper if it needs it and reheat gently.

Coursely ground black pepper is pretty well compulsory when I am cooking and the lemonyness is a lovely foil to the mushrooms, and occasionally I’ll squeeze in some lemon juice as well if I feel like it to add in a bit of freshness.