Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

50g bacon (4-5 slices)
1 onion finely chopped
½ leek finely chopped, white part only
A bit of olive oil
1 tbsp butter
600g mushrooms finely chopped (button, Portobello, etc)
800 ml chicken broth
100g cream cheese
A small amount of curly parsley for the garnish
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Cut the bacon strips in 5-6 equal parts. Sauté in a bit of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Transfer bacon onto kitchen towels and set aside.
In the same pot containing the small amount of olive oil and the bacon fat with its flavor, add the onion, leek, and the mushrooms thinly sliced.
Save some of the mushroom slices for the garnish and sauté the rest for 4 min until their color darkens a little. Add the broth. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to a boil and turn heat to low. Simmer covered for 20 min. Remove from heat and add the cream cheese.
In a food processor, beat or pulse soup ingredients until smooth and velvety. Transfer into a fine-meshed soup strainer and strain into the pot.
Heat the strained soup over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. If your soup appears too thick, add a bit of broth or hot water. Last, add the bacon bits and stir well.
If serving in individual bowls, reserve some sautéed mushrooms to garnish each bowl, together with a little curly parsley.