Tomato & porcini mushroom soup

Serves 6

75g dried porcini mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons chopped thyme leaves
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 x 810g tins peeled tomatoes, drained, juices reserved, roughly chopped
1 loaf ciabatta, sliced
100g freshly grated parmesan
a large handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
extra virgin olive oil

Put the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Leave to soak for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and gently sauté the onion, celery and carrot until soft and lightly coloured. Add the thyme and garlic, season with sea salt and black pepper then continue to cook for the flavours to infuse.

Carefully drain and reserve the water from the porcini, leaving behind any sediment. Set the liquid aside. Add the porcini to the onion and celery, sauté together for a few minutes then add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes have begun to thicken (this will
take around 30-45 minutes) add a little of the reserved tomato juice, reserved porcini liquid and 1 litre (4 cups) water. Stir and gently cook for a further 30 minutes or until the soup has thickened. Check the seasoning.

Toast the ciabatta slices. Sprinkle each slice with parmesan and place under a hot oven grill briefly to melt the cheese.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and top with slices of parmesan crostini.

To serve, reheat the soup if necessary then ladle into serving bowls. Scatter over the parsley then drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve topped with slices of parmesan crostini.