Romanian Creamy Garlicky Soup

• 1 tbps butter
• 400 gr different mushrooms, cut or torn into strips (e.g. champignons, oyster)
• 3½ garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 tsp thyme (minced fresh or dry)
• ½ bell pepper, cut in large chunks
• 1 medium / large potato, quartered
• 1 onion or white part of a leek, cut in large chunks
• 1 small piece of celery (approx. 1/4 of a celery root)
• 1 carrot, cut into large chunks
• 2½ l of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 6½ tbsp of sour cream or greek yoghurt
• 3½ tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

1. Place the bell pepper, potato, onion/leek, celery, and carrot in a large pot with the 2.5 liters of water. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for ±20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
2. In the meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan, add in the mushrooms (in 2 batches if you pan is small) and sauté with 1 minced garlic clove and thyme until lightly browned. Put aside.
3. Once the vegetables have cooked through use a blender (immersion or standing) to puree them with the broth. Heat it up again.
4. In a medium bowl, mix 2 egg yolks with 6-7 tablespoons of sour cream or greek yoghurt, 2-3 cloves of minced or pressed garlic, and 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice (you can start with less, and add more as you go, depending on how garlicky / vinegary you want the end result to be). Once it’s mixed, take half a ladle of the hot soup, and slowly mix it into the sour cream mix (this will temper it and prevent it from curdling in the soup). Then add everything to the soup & mix it in.
5. Add in the mushrooms. Taste, and add more garlic and/or vinegar to taste.
6. Serve with bread (essential for Romanian food), some extra sour cream, chopped fresh parsley, and even a hot pepper if you like.