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Heston's Cream of mushroom soup

''For such an easy thing to make, this soup is deeply delicious. The mushroom powder is really simple too and it will keep in an airtight container for up to five months. Try adding it to sauces and risottos or sprinkling it on steaks and omelettes for an added boost of savoury richness.''From Heston Blumenthal, Waitrose. Serves: 4

1.5 litres vegetable stock
160g butter
2 onions, finely sliced
1 small potato, peeled and finely sliced
2 leeks, finely sliced
800g essential Waitrose Cup Mushrooms, finely sliced
50ml vermouth
80ml double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
40ml semi-skimmed milk
For the mushroom powder:
10g Cooks’ Ingredients Chinese Mushrooms (dried)
10g Cooks’ Ingredients Porcini Mushrooms (dried)

To make the mushroom powder, preheat the oven to 150c, gas mark 2, and roast the dried mushrooms on a baking tray for 5 minutes, then leave to cool. Blitz the dried mushrooms in a food processor or put them in a sealable freezer bag and crush thoroughly with a rolling pin. Pass through a fine sieve and keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

Warm the vegetable stock in a saucepan.

Melt the butter in another saucepan over a medium heat and sweat the onions and potato without letting them colour. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook until they begin to soften.

Turn the heat up to high and add the vermouth to the mushroom mixture. Allow it to reduce until almost all of the vermouth has evaporated.

Pour the vegetable stock into the mushroom pan and add the double cream. Bring to a boil and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and blitz in a blender until completely smooth.

Pass through a fine sieve and stir in the semi-skimmed milk and salt and pepper to taste. If you have a hand blender, whiz the soup for 60 seconds to make it really light and frothy before ladling the soup into bowls.

Sprinkle each bowl with a little of the mushroom powder before serving.