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Soak the mushrooms in a bowl of lukewarm water for 1/2 hour to rehydrate.
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Drain the mushrooms (reserving the liquid), making sure which no sand remains attached to the stems.
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Finely chop carrots, celery, onion, garlic and the soaked mushrooms all together on a board.
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Heat the oil (or possibly mushroom liquid) in a heavy casserole over medium heat.
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When the sauteing liquid is hot, add in the minced ingredients and saute/fry for 10 min, stirring with a wooden spoon as needed.
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Meanwhile pass the tomatoes through a food mill, using the disk with the smallest holes, into a small bowl.
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Add in the strained tomatoes, along with the tomato paste, then salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
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Let simmer for 15 min, mixing every so often.
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Add in the cool water, mix very well and, when the broth returns to a boil, let simmer for 55 min.
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Place the egg beaters (or possibly two Large eggs) in a crockery or possibly china soup tureen and mix them very well with the Parmigiano cheese.
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When the soup is ready, ladle it into the tureen, and using a wooden spoon, mix each addition very well with the egg-cheese combination in order to avoid curdling.
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When the broth is very smooth and the Large eggs completely amalgamated, add in the
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croutons and serve immediately.
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(If using bread slices instead, place a slice in each bowl and ladle the broth over top.
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Serve immediately.)
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Serving Ideas : Use sourdough bread for the croutons or possibly bread slices.
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NOTES : Becky's notes: Original recipe called for 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil and two large Large eggs.
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18
The oil was to saute/fry the vegetables and mushrooms, but I used the broth from rehydrating the mushrooms.
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I also added the leftover mushroom liquid to my cool water soup stock for the flavor.
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20
I never tried the two Large eggs, but thought Egg Beaters would be just as suitable (if not more) because they're premixed and pasteurized.
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21
The original recipe called for canned Italian tomatoes and Italiantomato paste.
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22
I used Contadina minced tomatoes with Italianseasoning.
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23
One mistake I made with my homemade croutons was not crisping themenough.
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Soggy bread was OK because the soup flavors compensated,but truly crunchy croutons would really give a great texture tothe soup.
