Mushroom soup with bread – Acquacotta

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 150 g mushrooms, white, fresh
• 20 g smoked bacon, streaky
• 3 small onions, red
• 3 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 30 g celery, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 m.-large tomato(s), red, fully ripe
• 400 g water
• 8 g chicken stock powder
• 2 pinches of black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 6 small slices of white bread, e.g. baguette
• 50 g Pecorino, finely grated, alternatively mountain cheese
• n. B. Pecorino, finely grated
• 2 tbsp spring onions, fresh, green parts only

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Originally a simple shepherd’s soup from Tuscany, it is now cooked in many tasty variations.

Clean the mushrooms, cut off the stems at the cap, snip off the bottom end, and halve lengthwise. Halve the caps, cut crosswise into approximately 3 mm thin slices, and set aside. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, peel, quarter lengthwise, and discard the green stalks and seeds. Cut the quarters into very small pieces and set aside. Dice the bacon, onions, and 2 garlic cloves. Wash the fresh celery, shake dry, and pick off and chop the unblemished leaves. Freeze the leaves. Cut the unblemished stalks crosswise into approximately 3 mm wide rolls and set aside 30 g. Freeze the remaining rolls. Weigh the frozen goods and thaw them. Heat the olive oil moderately in a sufficiently large pan and fry the bacon cubes until fragrant. Add the onions and garlic and roast until the onions are translucent. Add the celery stalks and sauté. Deglaze with the water and transfer to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and dissolve the chicken stock. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, and pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Stir in the mushroom slices and simmer for another 3 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the bread and toast until light brown, then top with the pecorino and bake. Slice the green part of a small spring onion into thin rolls. Season the soup to taste, ladle into serving bowls, and place the bread slices in the soup. Sprinkle with the spring onions and pecorino, serve, and enjoy. Note: Acquacotta (translated as “boiled water”) used to be a simple shepherd’s soup consisting of water with a little salt and a few herbs. It was eaten with rock-hard bread dipped in the soup.