Mushroom soup & Brazil nut gremolata

Mrs. Throat-Erator had been after me for some time, trying to coax me into making this soup which she had read about, when I noticed these lovely hedgehog mushrooms at the store. And so it went, with a few modifications...

Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dried, sliced porcini mushrooms
- 7.5 dL (3 cups) warm water
- sunflower oil, twice
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled & sliced
- 1 L (4 cups) vegetable bouillon
- salt
- 188 g (6.6 oz) fresh hedgehog mushrooms, chopped coarsely
- salt and pepper
gremolata
- 90 g (3 oz) brazil nuts
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- fresh parsley, chopped
- zest of one lemon, finely grated
- 1/4 dL (almost 2 tbsp) olive oil


To begin the dried porcini mushrooms were soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and then drained without discarding the black water.

In a large pot, the carrot and onions were sautéed with a little oil for 5 minutes before adding the soaked porcini mushrooms and continuing for another 5 minutes. The mushroom water and the bouillon was added and brought to a boil. The heat was reduced, the pot was covered and allowed to simmer for 30 minutes. Afterwards it was puréed with a blender and seasoned to taste with salt.

While the soup was simmering the gremolata was prepared. The brazil nuts were toasted in a pan, chopped coarsely, and mixed with mashed garlic, lemon zest, chopped parsley, and olive oil.

The fresh hedgehog mushrooms were sautéed in a little oil with salt and pepper for 5 minutes.

The puréed soup was served with sautéed mushrooms and gremolata on top. It was very rich - I could only eat so much in one day.