Spooky Sausage Soup with Mushroom Skulls

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This Spooky Sausage Soup with mushroom skulls is the perfect dinner to serve for your fall holiday party or for your family on a busy Halloween night.

Spooky Sausage Soup with Carrots, Zucchini, and Mushroom Skulls Is the Perfect Halloween Night Dinner.

This soup is so tasty! The flavorful Italian sausage, mushroom skulls sautéed with marsala wine and the addition of herbs and a piece of parmesan rind send this soup straight to the top of the flavor chart. Not only is this soup a hit in the taste department but it is Halloween cuteness overload! This soup is fun for both the kids and the adults!

What kind of sausage to use for Spooky Sausage Soup with Mushroom Skulls?

I buy bulk Italian sausage from my local co-op meat department. It is organic and is a fairly low-fat blend. If your local grocery store doesn’t have Italian sausage in bulk, you can purchase Italian sausage links and remove the sausage from the casings. Another option is to purchase regular ground pork and make your own Italian sausage from unseasoned ground pork. To make your own great-tasting Italian sausage add: 2 tablespoons of your favorite marina sauce, 1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes per pound of ground pork. The key ingredient to the quick Italian sausage on the fly is adding the marina sauce.

Ingredients:

soup base:

Italian Sausage: Try to find an Italian Sausage that is 20% or less in fat. I recommend using only mild Italian sausage if you are entertaining children. If this soup is for adults only, you can use hot Italian sausage or a mixture of mild and hot Italian sausage.

Onion: An important flavor builder that can’t be missed in a soup, especially in this soup.

Carrots: Carrots add so much flavor and texture to a soup. Cutting the carrots into the shape of a pumpkin adds a fun seasonal theme that your friends and family will not forget.

Zucchini: One of my favorite vegetables to add to soup. I Zucchini is an antioxidant that is rich in B6.

Chicken Broth: The brand you use or how you make your own chicken broth/stock will vary on saltiness so the final amount of salt will need to be adjusted to your personal taste.

Herbs: Thyme, oregano, and parsley. I recommend tying the herbs in some butcher’s twine to make it easy to remove from the soup when the soup is done.

Parm Rind: This is a must-have, nonsubstitutional ingredient. When you use up all the parmesan cheese, cut the rind into small pieces and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, then add them to a freezer-safe zip lock. Adding a piece of parmesan rind adds an unmatched flavor that nothing else can duplicate. I recommend adding parmesan rind to soups, stews, and tomato sauce when you want to boost the flavor of your dish. When your recipe is done remove the rind just as you would the herbs.

saute the mushrooms SEPARATELY:

Mushrooms: In this recipe, the mushroom skulls are sauteed separately to give the mushrooms a deeper flavor. Sauteing the mushrooms separately is an important step that can’t be missed and is a big part of what makes this soup so good! In this recipe, you can use white button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms (also known as baby Bellas), or a combination of both to make the mushroom skulls. White button mushrooms display the skull decoration the best.

Olive oil: Costco sales good quality olive oil. Always check that the olive oil is true olive oil and not a blend.

Garlic: This ingredient is an important aromatic in this recipe. The garlic can be minced or put in a garlic press. I recommend using fresh unpeeled garlic. Peel the garlic and mince the garlic fresh. Prepeeled and preminced garlic can be bitter and lose a lot of flavor for little convince.

Marsala Wine: You can use any wine you like, however, I highly recommend using Marsala wine. I always have marsala wine open in my refrigerator. It is my go-to cooking wine. If you are using a stronger, dryer, or more bitter wine, I recommend adding a 1/4 tsp of sugar to mimic the sweetness of the Marsala wine. If you don’t want to use wine in this recipe, you can substitute and deglaze with chicken stock.

Salt and pepper: To taste, however, don’t skimp on either.

Optional Ingredients:

Red Pepper Flakes: If you use mild sausage and aren’t serving this to kids, consider adding a pinch of red pepper flakes. (I kept it out of the recipe to keep it a kid-friendly recipe.)

Rice: If you want to bulk up this soup, you can add 1/4 cup of uncooked rice. Jasmine rice or arborio rice works well in this recipe. If you add more than 1/4 cup of uncooked rice you will need to add more liquid to account for the extra rice.

How to make Spooky Sausage Soup with Mushroom Skulls:

ingredients:

• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 2 ½ tsp salt, divided (plus more to taste if needed)
• 1 tsp pepper
• ½ tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 1 onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced, divided
• 3 carrots (cut into the shape of a pumpkin-optional)
• 1 zucchini
• 6 cups chicken broth
• herbs: thyme, parsley, oregano, sage 
• 1 piece Parmesan rind 1″x1″
• 8 ounces white button mushrooms (or cremini), 8oz = 3 ½ cups mushrooms
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup Marsala wine
• Check for seasoning

optional ingredients:

• Can add ¼ cup of rice if you like
•  Red pepper flakes ¼ tsp

step by step directions:

First, gather all of your ingredients.

Next, wash all vegetables.

Then prep and dice all the vegetables to the apporpite size and shape.

Dice one onion.

Next, cut carrots in the shape of a pumpkin.

how to cut a carrot into the shape of a pumpkin:

First, peel carrots.

Second, cut off both ends of the carrot (top and tip), leaving only the usable parts of the carrot.

Next, cut two ⅛ th of an inch slits down the top of a carrot that will identify the stem of the pumpkin.

Now, rotate the carrot to its side. This is to easily make a perpendicular slice to the bottom of the previous cut that identified the stem of the pumpkin. This second cut should reach the first cut and result in the removal of a small piece of carrot making one side of the carrot pumpkin.

Next, rotate the carrot to the other side and do the exact same step as above. This third cut will result in the removal of another small piece of carrot making the final side of the carrot pumpkin.

Finally, slice the carrot into slices. This will result in individual carrot pieces in the shape of a pumpkin.

Slice zucchini into any shape you like: sliced rounds, halves, quarters, or cut into the shape of a pumpkin using the described method above.

starting the soup on the stovetop:

Start the soup by cooking the Italian sausage in a Dutch oven or large stock pot on medium-high heat.

Immediately, add 1 tsp of salt to the Italian sausage and use a wooden spoon to mix the salt into the Italian sausage.

Once the sausage is cooked, remove all but 1-2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat.

Next, add the diced onion to the cooked Italian sausage, and add ½ tsp of salt. (The salt is added throughout the recipe to season each ingredient and build the flavor.)

Now add ½ of the minced garlic. Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes. Keep the garlic moving in the pan so as not to burn the garlic.

Then, add the carrots, zucchini, ½ tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper, and ½ tsp of granulated garlic or garlic powder.

Add the herbs, you can tie the herbs up with food-grade butcher’s twine, or just place them loosely on top of the vegetables. I recommend thyme, parsley, sage, oregano, or whatever herbs you have on hand. Thyme is the most important herb, if you were to only add one herb, thyme would be the best.

Add 6 cups of chicken stock/broth.

Add a piece of parmesan rind to the soup, this is a very important step/ingredient for the final flavor of the soup.

slow simmer soup to intensify the flavor

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer on medium-low for 30 mins to 1 hour keep the lid mostly on (so the steam can escape and the liquid doesn’t boil over, but on enough to not lose too much of the liquid). Allow enough cooking time to soften vegetables and bring all the flavors of the soup together. (An alternative to stove-top simmering is to place the soup in the oven at 325℉ for 30 minutes to 1 hour with the lid on.)

*If you choose to add ¼ cup of uncooked jasmine or arborio rice, add it in the last 25 minutes and adjust the liquid as needed.*

While the soup is simmering, cook mushroom skulls separately to achieve maximum flavor.

Cooking THE MUSHROOM SKULLS:

Slice the mushrooms in half lengthwise.

Then, make the mushroom skulls by making eye holes with a straw.

Next, add 2 tbsp olive oil to a saute pan and heat to medium-high heat.

Then, add mushrooms flat side down to the saute pan.

Immediately, add ½ tsp of salt to the mushrooms in an even sprinkle to the tops of the mushrooms.

Cook the mushroom skulls for 2- 3 minutes without moving the mushrooms. (Don’t move the mushrooms at all.) This is to develop a deep brown caramelization on the flat side of the mushroom.

Next, add 1/4 cup of marsala cooking wine. Deglaze the pan with the masala wine.

Then, add the other half of the minced garlic (the remaining 2 cloves).

Cook the wine down for about 2 minutes. (The wine will help the garlic cook without the garlic burning.)

Turn off the heat and add the sauteed mushrooms.

Finishing the Spooky Sausage Soup:

Check the finished soup for seasoning. (Depending on the chicken broth that was used, the soup may need an additional salt. Add the additional salt ⅛ tsp at a time; until the desired amount of salt has been obtained to not over salt the soup.)

Next, remove the herbs and the parmesan rind.

Finally, add the sauteed mushroom skulls to the finished soup. Arrange them so everyone can see the mushroom skulls and serve.

Enjoy!

Try my recipe for: Sautéed Garlic Mushroom Skulls Deglazed with Wine

Items I used: Sauté Pan, Wüsthof chef knife, Cutting Board, Reusable Straw with a Cleaning Brush, All-Clad Dutch Oven