Porcini Mushroom Soup with Bacon and Emmental Cheese | Recipe

Mmmmm…mushrooms. If you’re lucky enough to stumble upon the King Bolete variety in the woods or marketplace, here is a delicious recipe to use it in.

For three, maybe four if it’s mainly an entrée, you’ll need 500 g porcini mushrooms, 150 g bacon, 150 g grated emmental cheese, 3 dl cream, 5 dl vegetable stock, 2 largish shallots, 2 largish cloves of garlic, 25 g butter, 3.5 tbsp sherry vinegar, salt, black pepper and parsley to garnish.

Start by cleaning the mushrooms. Remove sand, dirt and the yellow pores on the underside of the cap and discard them. Roughly chop the rest of the mushroom.

Thinly slice the shallots and the garlic. Heat a sauce pan on medium heat, melt the butter and fry the shallots and garlic until tender. Add the mushrooms and fry for 8 to 10 minutes, but avoid browning them too much.

Add the sherry vinegar and let it absorb, then add the cream and vegetable stock and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

If you’re looking for a delicious entrée type vegetarian light mushroom soup, then you can quit here and serve it. If you’re looking for a slightly sturdier, equally delicious non-vegetarian variation, then continue with the following steps.

While the soup is simmering, slice the bacon and fry it until moderately crispy. Grate the emmental cheese and chop the parsley.

Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed, then top with the cheese, bacon and parsley.

Serve with a levain or ciabatta type bread and a red wine.

List of ingredients

Porcini mushrooms
Bacon
Emmental or Gruyère cheese
Shallots
Garlic
Butter
Sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar might substitute
Cream
Vegetable stock
Salt
Black pepper
Parsley to garnish

The history of Porcini mushrooms
Porcini means piglet in Italian and their use in culinary history can be traced back at least to Roman times. Porcini mushrooms have since been popular in Italy, France and various parts of Europe. In Sweden mushrooms were used, but mainly as tinder. In the 18th century the upper class, inspired by foreign customs, did take to using mushrooms in cooking, but it wasn’t until a Bernadotte from France imported his culinary tradition that the mushroom received it’s current name, Karl Johans svamp, and the swedes were turned into mushroom appreciators en masse.