Mushroom solyanka with mushrooms

Peel and finely chop 1 onion. Dampen a clean cloth and wipe the mushrooms, removing any dirt. Cut off the dirty base and cut the mushrooms into halves or quarters, depending on their size.

Heat olive oil in a pot, sauté the onion cubes for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the mushroom slices, increase the heat, and sauté until lightly golden.

In a saucepan, add 4 tbsp of chopped tomatoes (or tomato paste) and simmer for another 5 minutes. If you don't have tomato paste, you can cut 2 fresh tomatoes in a cross shape, blanch them with boiling water, peel off the skin, and roughly chop. Pour in the broth, add a bay leaf, and bring to a boil.

Peel and dice the potatoes. Drain the marinated mushrooms (I used store-bought, but homemade ones will be even better!) and rinse them with cold water to remove excess marinade. Add the prepared ingredients to the soup and cook for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender (due to the addition of marinated mushrooms and tomatoes, the potatoes will cook slower). Season with salt and pepper to taste. To add a touch of elegance to our dish, you can add a handful of black olives and capers a few minutes before the soup is done and garnish with a slice of lemon when serving. By the way, if the soup doesn't seem tangy enough to you, you can add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the saucepan, but only after the potatoes are cooked. If you're not fasting and don't have any objections to animal products, mushroom solyanka goes really well with sour cream!