Cepes are known as Porcini mushrooms in Italy.

Mushrooms from Corr‚ze are of course of the highest quality but other varieties will suffice. <G>

The beef fat was skimmed from the beef stock. Butter or oil would suffice.

In a pinch, a cup of beef juices from a roast beef augmented by a cup of water and a rounded tsp of beef soup base will have to do if a good homemade stock is not available. [It wasn't.] If the stock isn't already well seasoned during it's preparation, one might want to add pepper or a few herbs in with the carrot et al.

Large shells would look pretty in the bowl; I used rotini as that's what I had on hand.

V8 is a brand name juice that's mainly tomato juice but contains other vegetables as well it is more highly seasoned than plain tomato juice.

without wine, then with 1/4 cup wine, then added the V8 juice and finally added another 1/4 cup wine. The version outlined above was the best.

Method:

Put cepes in a cup; bring water to a boil and pour over the cepes. Set aside to let the dried mushrooms reconstitute.

Gently fry the onions in the beef fat until golden brown; add the garlic about half way through the process. Drain to remove as much fat as possible and set aside.

Meanwhile bring the stock to a rolling boil and add the carrot, celery, tomato and pasta. Bring back to the boil; reduce heat to a simmer and cook fifteen minutes. Add the onion-garlic mixture during the last five minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the broth to remove the