Creamy morel mushroom pasta
I found morel mushrooms!!! To clarify for those who have been following the ongoing saga, Jeff hunts for mushrooms in the woods, no I did not put on my hiking boots and get lost in the woods. However, on Saturday when it was pouring rain and once again to wet to do garden work I headed over to the co-op. Imagine my shock and surprise when the first thing I see are morel mushrooms.
I bought half of a pound of morel mushrooms and used them in three dishes. The first dish I did when I got home is one of my favorite ways to eat them. It is a simple morels pan fried in large amounts of butter. As the morels are done the movement is tongs grab morel, tongs to mouth, and morel dropped in mouth completely disregarding patting them dry or even letting them cool in the slightest. To date (knocking on wood) I have succeeding in not burning myself badly. Sunday morning I chopped a couple of the smaller morels I picked up and added them to my morning scrambled eggs.
After a long Sunday of moving three yards of mulch around my house and moving a truck load of lumber for my brother I wanted something simple, quick, and light. The weather also turned out to be perfect pasta weather when it dropped into the low 50s by dinner.
The inspiration from this dish comes from my buddy Mike over Mike’s Table who did a goat cream sauce with mushroom agnolotti that sounded simple and amazing (click here to see the recipe).
For this recipe you will need:
- morel mushrooms cleaned and cut in half
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic finely diced
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
- Leaves from a couple springs of thyme
- 1/2 cup of peas
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- All purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- Your favorite noodles cooked till ale dente and some of the cooking liquid reserved.
Steps to success:
- Over medium heat melt the butter in a large pan.
- Cover the morel mushrooms in flour and shake off the excess.
- Add the morel mushrooms to the pan and cook till golden brown all over. Remove and set aside.
- Add in the shallot and garlic and cook till softened (about 45 seconds).
- Add in the 1/2 cup of white wine and cook till reduced by 1/3 (about 3 minutes).
- Lower the heat to low and add in the crushed red pepper, herbs, peas, and cream.
- After the peas and cream are heated through add the Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, and pasta into the pan and toss to coat. If the mixture seems a little to dry add in some of the pasta cooking water.
Serve and enjoy! My chive plant started to flower so instead of only cutting up chives I decided to sprinkle the flowers over top along with some basil.
I found some too but I didnt feel like paying 40 bucks a pound…..this dish looks great….
I think you might officially be the only guy I (don’t) know that likes mushrooms! You’re killing me with all these fabulous-sounding mushroom recipes lately.
Oh yeah - now that’s my kind of pasta. It looks rich, creamy and delicious!
I have YET to taste morels! I love that you found them at your co-op after searching in the wild! Looks great!
That had to have been BOMB with the fresh sage, peas and Parm!
I am loving these mushroom posts. Keep them coming! This pasta looks and sounds fabulous.
You know, I don’t believe I’ve ever even had a morel!
I’m so jealous - morels!!! Me want! That pasta dish looks sooooo good.
My chives just started blooming too. I was hoping to think of something to make so that I could use them in a picture, lol. Nothing yet!
It is so hard to find fresh morel in the grocery store, but when they do have it I buy them without even looking how much it cost, then I get shock when it is time to pay, oh well… it is worth every penny. Hmmm I can only imagine how delicious your pasta is… yummy!
You’re so lucky. I have yet to get my hands on some this year.
Your pasta looks so warm and good. Perfect for a cool night. Yum!
You’re not just a grill guy are you! This looks fantastic!!
good for you, hunter jeff! frankly, i’m scared to go mushroom scavenging–with my luck, i’d find the only poisonous variety in our woods, not realize it, and end up sick as a dog.
What a delicious looking pasta dish, it has most everything I like. Nicely Nicely done!
Pasta with Morels, eh? SHOW-OFF! lol
How can this dish go wrong? They are pricey but worth it.
Jeff, your dish looks awesome!
I have just started to try mushrooms for the first time and I actually like them!
And my 13 year old son LOVES them. We had burgers on the grill over the weekend and he sauteed some shrooms for himself! I was shocked!
Yay! Mushrooms again!
The dish looks so nice… I bet also very yummy
Aww, but I never had some of those mushrooms and now I’m damn curious.
oh my…that DOES look gorgeous! I’ve never heard of morel mushrooms until now…but now I’ve gotta look out for them!
I love the combination of herbs you added to this dish. Sounds so delicious. I am the only one who eats mushrooms at my house so I order them out every chance I get. The soup below looks great too. I have not had mushroom soup in years as I only like it homemade. Wonderful photos too!
I love peas in pasta - this looks great and so creamy!
Now I want to start a garden! Your pasta dish looks great, especially with the little flowers addition.
Nice one, it looks really delicious. I have never tried morels before because 1) it’s a little expensive and 2) I was always a little put off by its texture. I am a little phobic with dark crevices but I think it’s time I grow up and put that phobia behind me and try some darn morels already!
Jeff, this looks great! I worry about your wild mushroom hunting only because I so wouldn’t know which ones are ok or not but I’m sure you’ve armed yourself with a lot more knowledge than me
Hehe, this is the second morel recipe I see in a row. I really need to find some now
Morels have been eluding me as well. They are quite clever.
Personally, I believe all weather is pasta weather, but below fifty is definitely CREAMY pasta weather (you’ve gotta go with the no-cook sauces for warmer days). This looks like it would be perfect. The little flowers also add a touch of spring.
I wish we had a co-op. You are sooooo lucky. If I want fresh stuff I drive to whole foods (40 minutes away). Worth the trip, but hate the drive. But all my meats are bought a whole foods, I won’t go to a regular grocery store for meats and risk growing a third eye or something with all those crazy chemicals they put in there.
I adore morel mushrooms and they are served perfect here: in a nice creamy sauce.
I’ve tried many different mushrooms but not morels because I’ve never seen them in store. I wonder how they taste. Dish looks so good.
Gorgeous and right on the spot with the season!
That looks divine! I have never had fresh morels before.
mushroom pasta - good work
it’s always a favorite in my house
That is one nice looking spring pasta! Morel mushrooms are quickly becoming one of my favorites. It is only too bad in that they are so expensive.
Jeff, one thing I REALLY miss about living in the mid-west is morels. We used to go to at least one Morel festival each Spring. Oh there is nothing like them! MMM. Lucky BOY you are to be living where they are so abundant.
Yum. I love mushroom pasta of all kinds. Sounds like you put your find to great use!
I think I’ve died and gone to heaven just reading this recipe! No morels to be found anywhere near my home but I was treated to them in Portland last week. I can still evoke the smell and taste. So today perhaps it’s time to try once again to find them. It would be worth breaking my don’t-eat-white-things rule for this pasta. Thanks!
This is similar to a Russian dish that was popular in the Tsarist era. It used morels (or chanterelles or ceps) which were sauteed in butter w/ chopped shallot, double cream and madeira was added, and towards the end sour cream was added to thicken the sauce, which would be served over egg noodles. Either way, 10/10 with this dish, it’s hard to go wrong with wild mushrooms.
amazing. jshiv, been making your recipes all the time now. i used to be into cooking a ton a few years ago, kinda lost my touch, and you’re slowly bringing it back. thanks for posting recipes that have common ingredients and are delicious. i really appreciate it.
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