WINTER WARMERS...HEARTY MUSHROOM SOUP WITH CHESTNUTS

Well winter is creeping in and I for one love to make delicious soups to take the edge off the cold weather..this one is something that I made pretty much by accident - like some of my favourite recipes it was a bit of an experiment which turned out a treat..you can use any kind of mushrooms really but I think the ones with maximum flavour work best eg portobellos or swiss brown or any of the wild mushrooms if they're in season...its great without the dumplings too if you cant be bothered with all that...hope you like it

Ingredients
1 brown onion chopped
1 leek chopped
3 or 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (soaked in a generous amount of boiling water - retain liquid)
2 potatoes or 1 white sweet potato peeled and chopped in to small cubes
1 cup cooked chestnuts (you can get them canned at most supermarkets)
approx 1 litre chicken stock (I sometimes make my own but a bought one is fine)
finely chopped parsley

dumplings
1 cup plain flour
100g fresh ricotta cheese
salt


Sweat off onion and leek in olive oil with a generous pinch of salt.When soft add garlic. Add chopped mushrooms to pan and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Chop porcini mushrooms once they are softened remembering to retain the liquid as this will become part of the stock. Add in porcini mushrooms to the pan along with chopped potato and chestnuts. Add porcini mushroom liquid to pan as well as chicken stock so that all the ingredients are covered with liquid. Allow to cook on a low heat for half an hour to forty five minutes, or until potatoes are almost completely collapsed. The potatoes will act as a thickening agent for the soup. At this point taste and add salt and black pepper to taste. You can leave the soup simmering on low while you make the dunplings.

Combine flour and ricotta in a bowl - I find its easiest to mash them together with a fork. Add salt to taste. The consistency should be a soft dough. You can also add fresh herbs finely chopped or grated parmesan cheese or extra flavour. Shape them into small dumplings and set aside.

Once the soup has thickened a little bit its basically ready to go. At the last minute increase your heat to medium and add in your dumplings - they will only take a couple of minutes to cook. They should float once they're done. At this point add in your parsley and you're ready to serve. I sometimes like to add a touch of sour cream in each bowl also. Of course fresh bread or garlic croutons would be awesome with this too. Enjoy!