Name: Zuppa di Porcini e Lumache (Mushroom and Snail Soup)
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons/45 ml Ligurian extravirgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon/7 g unsalted butter; ½ onion or 1 very small onion, minced; 2 cloves garlic, peeled; 7 to 8 ounces/200 g snails that have been removed from their shells and thoroughly soaked and then individually rinsed with cold water to assure that they are clean, cut in half lengthwise; 6 ounces/170 ml/1 glass dry white wine, preferably Ligurian; 7 tablespoons/1¾ ounces/50 g unbleached all-purpose flour; Freshly cracked black pepper; 14 ounce/400 g fresh funghi porcini, carefully washed and then sliced to medium thickness (or 3½ ounces dried porcini that you have soaked); 4 sprigs fresh Italian (flat) parsley, coarsely chopped; 6 cups/1½ liters vegetable broth (see note about broth; if you are using dried porcini, you may choose to strain the liquid they soaked in and add this liquid to the broth you use)

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

About

Snails are popular in Liguria, especially in the provinces of Imperia and Savona. When combined with the porcini that appear in profusion in the hills, you have a soup that is considered traditional cooking of the poor in old Liguria but fancy cuisine just about everywhere else.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons/45 ml Ligurian extravirgin olive oil
1 tablespoon/7 <

Method

After you have prepared all of the ingredients, gently heat the olive oil and butter in a large stockpot. Add the minced onion and garlic cloves to the pot. When the garlic cloves turn golden, remove them from the pot and discard (or save, perhaps, for another use). Add the snails and sauté for 4 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add some fresh black pepper to taste,