Chestnut Mushroom and Tarragon Soup by Kirsten Gilmour from The Mountain Café in Aviemore  

Kirsten Gilmour is the owner and head chef at Aviemore’s renowned Mountain Café. This recipe comes from her new book, The Mountain Café Cookbook: a Kiwi in the Cairngorms, which is published by Kitchen Press Publishing on February 14 at £20. In the book, Kirsten draws on her Kiwi roots to turn out contemporary dishes with an antipodean love for fresh and bold flavours. 

The book also tells the story of Gilmour’s roundabout journey to Scotland and all the flavours picked up in between. All recipes are marked for special dietary requirements with additional tips for converting more dishes into gluten-free and vegan equivalents. With Gilmour’s warm but straight-talking voice leading them through, readers will confidently be able to recreate dishes that taste just as good as the famous Mountain Café originals.  

This is a simple mushroom soup with an aniseed burst from the fresh tarragon. If you don’t have any tarragon, try using basil or your favourite herb. It’s easy to make into a vegan dish too: just replace the double cream with 400ml stock.

Ingredients:​ Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

1 big handful fresh tarragon, stalks removed

4 garlic cloves, chopped

500g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped

1200ml vegetable stock (or 2 stock cubes in 1200ml hot water)

400ml double cream

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat.
  2. Add your onions, tarragon and garlic and sauté until the onions start to soften – don’t let them take on any colour.
  3. Add the mushrooms and sauté for another five to ten minutes till the mushrooms are starting to soften and have reduced in bulk.
  4.  Pour the stock in, bring to the boil then simmer on a gentle heat till the mushrooms are soft enough to purée (about 30 to 40 minutes).
  5. Add your cream and blitz the soup really well until you have a super smooth and creamy texture.
  6. Add a little hot water if the soup is too thick, then season with salt, black pepper and extra tarragon if you feel it needs it.

Serve immediately  

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