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Golden Mushroom Soup with Buttered Orzo

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“This is the type of soup that, if you’re only reading the recipe, might feel sort of austere and maybe a little unexciting,” writes cookbook author Alison Roman. “But what you’re likely underestimating is the power of mushrooms (naturally high in umami, a fever dream of mixed textures, visually dazzling in all their shapes and sizes), who are doing most of if not all the heavy lifting here.” Although this soup can be made with commodity button or cremini mushrooms, Alison recommends using a mix of the more exotic types, such as oyster, maitake, trumpet, chanterelle or yellowfoot. Additionally, it pays to be vigilant about tasting and adjusting with seasonings and fish sauce. “That said,” Alison writes, “I really enjoy the monk-like austerity of the mushroom/garlic/water magic that occurs (with a fish sauce assist, of course) to create a broth that is delicate and earthy.”

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbs. olive oil
  • 12 oz. (375 g) mushrooms, as good a mix of the more exotic cultivated or wild ones as you can find
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for garnish
  • 6 cups (48 fl. oz./1.5 l) water, stock, broth or a combination
  • 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz./165 g) orzo
  • 2 tsp. fish sauce
  • 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, plus more if desired
  • Flaky salt for garnish

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re starting to brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the remaining mushrooms and the garlic and season again with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the mushrooms are nicely browned (some more than others) and have started to leave a nice little fond on the bottom of the pot, 6 to 8 minutes more.

Add the turmeric and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to bloom the spices in the fat, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the water (adding bouillon, if you like) and bring to a simmer. Add the orzo, fish sauce and season again with salt and pepper.

Simmer until the broth is deeply flavorful and the orzo has cooked through, past al dente to very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. The end soup should be brothy but not so much so that you can’t see the bits of orzo and mushrooms floating rather close to the surface. Continue to simmer if the broth is looking (or tasting) a little thin.

Once the broth is where you want it and orzo is good and plumped, add the butter to the pot and season again with salt, pepper and more fish sauce if you like. Divide the soup among individual bowls and top with more crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, some flaky salt if you’ve got it lying around and…more butter. Because it looks nice and tastes so good. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

SERVE WITH

This soup is great served on its own (often for lunch), but for dinner a giant piece of toasted bread (baguette even) to dunk into the broth would be nice, and some sort of lettuce-dressed-in-mustard situation.

DO AHEAD

The soup can be made a few days ahead, if you want. The orzo will continue to absorb the flavors of the broth and mushrooms, so one might argue this gets better with age. Thin with water as needed.

Adapted from Something from Nothing by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter, 2025)

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