Mushroom Soup with Bacon and Fried Sage
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Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 4 slices thick-cut, pastured bacon
  • 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 small zucchini, diced (about 3 cups)
  • 1 cup bone broth
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • Solid cooking fat, for frying
  • ¼ cup fresh sage leaves, separated from the stem
  • 1½ cups coconut milk
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • Truffle salt or regular sea salt, to taste
Instructions
  1. Add the bacon to the bottom of a heavy-bottomed soup pot. Turn to medium-low heat, and cook until crispy, turning when needed, about 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, rehydrate the mushrooms by soaking them in 1 cup of warm water while the bacon cooks.
  3. Depending on how thick your bacon was, you should have 4-6 tablespoons of fat rendered after cooking the bacon. Set aside 2-3 tablespoons to cook the sage in later, and add the onions to the pot with the bacon grease, cooking at medium heat. Stirring occasionally, cook the onions for 7 minutes, until translucent.
  4. Meanwhile, chop the bacon pieces into bits and set aside to garnish the soup later.
  5. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for a minute, until fragrant. Add the zucchini and cook for another minute or two. Add the bone broth, mushrooms and soaking water, and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until zucchini is just tender.
  6. While the vegetables are simmering, add the bacon grease to a small skillet. If you didn't have a lot left over from cooking the bacon, add a couple of tablespoons of solid cooking fat here. Turn it on medium heat, and get the oil hot enough to fry the sage leaves--you can test by dropping one leaf in. It should bubble and sizzle as the leaf fries. Add in the sage leaves one at a time and fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute each, until they stop bubbling. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to crisp up and set aside to garnish the soup later.
  7. When the vegetables are finished, turn off the heat, add the coconut milk and lemon juice, and stir to combine. Blend the soup to a thin consistency in batches (the room temperature coconut milk should make it cool enough to blend; if not wait a few minutes).
  8. Serve warm garnished with bacon bits, fried sage leaves, and truffle salt.
Notes
Note: Save the cooking fat left over from frying the sage--it is delicious to stir into soups or to use for cooking!
Recipe by Autoimmune Wellness at https://autoimmunewellness.com/creamy-mushroom-soup-with-bacon-and-fried-sage/