Heaven on a slice of bread

I believe that I am not exaggerating, when I say that cep is the king of mushrooms or as Nero said "the flesh of the gods". There are four species the cépe de Bordeaux, Tête de nègre,Cèpe des pins and Cèpe d'été. Porcini are available fresh in markets in summer and autumn and dried or canned throught the year. Needles to say that this is my absolute favourite mushroom. If you browse through my blog, you gonna find a couple of recipes using cep, like a rich soup, a beef liver spread, gnocchi, risotto, sabayon, pasta dish or home made porcini oil. Last Saturday, I found some at my greengrocer and had a bunch of ideas how to prepare it. At the end I picked the most simple one: ceps with Parma ham. I was wondering, if I should add
some fresh thyme leaves, but then I decided to go for flat leaf parsley instead, because I thought it would highlight the porcini, where the thyme might not. Though thyme and mushroom is a gorgeous combination. But considering the raw ham, it might have been too heavy together.


Ingredients:
4 porcini
1 tablespoon porcini oil
10 g butter
70 g raw ham (e.g. Parma or San Daniele)
1 shallot
flat leaf parsley
salt, pepper

Separate the mushroom stems from the caps. Chop the stems into small dice and fry them in butter over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add sliced ham, chopped shallot and cook for another 3 minutes. Fry the sliced caps in the oil until golden brown. Stir it to the fried stems and add some chopped flat leaf parsley. Season and serve with in olive oil fried white bread.