There are many ways to cook and eat a morel mushroom. In fact, you really could use a morel mushroom anywhere and any way you would use a mushroom of any variety. And, there is always the classic route: sautéed simply in either butter with salt and pepper or olive oil and garlic or ramps. Still there are two recipes in our house that get requested as soon as (or maybe even before) the morels emerge. Try one, or both, and let me know what you think. As always, feel free to experiment with either…experimenting in the kitchen (and in life) is at least half the fun.
Morel Mushrooms and Caramelized Red Onion Pizza
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large or 2 small red onions
2 tsp sugar
1/4-1/2 c. red wine
2 Tbsp salted butter
1 Tbsp flour
2 ramps (or 3 cloves garlic)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. morel mushrooms cut into 1” pieces
1/2 c. fresh mozzarella cut into 1/4” dice
1 c arugula and the ramp greens
Pizza dough
A bit of advice on this pizza: don’t skimp on the time it takes to caramelize the onions. The recipe calls for wine, so have a glass while the sugars develop. And, make your own crust. See the article on pizza making coming soon for a no fail pizza crust that will make you stop ordering take out.
This pizza is a bit of a labor of culinary love. There are a number of steps, some of which (crust and onions) can be made in advance. For this pizza, start with the onions. The idea here is to caramelize them. Developing the sugars takes time, so don’t rush them. Slice them thinly. Heat a heavy Dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once heated, coat with the olive oil. (Heating the skillet before adding the oil reduces the chances of sticking, but here you are going to deglaze the pan anyhow, so it really doesn’t matter…it’s just a good trick for everything from delicate foods like eggs and pancakes to heartier offerings like sausage or a pork loin.) I digress… give the oil a few seconds to get glossy and then add the onions. You will cook these about 20 minutes. It’s okay if they stick a little, but you don’t want them to brown or crisp. You also don’t want to just sweat them, so there is a sweet spot on the heat. More than medium but not more than medium (you read that correctly). Fiddle with the knob. You can sprinkle the sugar over them to give the caramelizing a little push. If they start to stick too much just douse them with a splash of wine. (I recommend filling your glass at the same time). After about 20 minutes dump in the wine to deglaze the pan then let the wine reduce. You can make these in advance and use them cold, or you can use them fresh from the pan. They will keep in the fridge for a few days.
Preheat your oven to 425 or 450 degrees. Put your pizza stone on a low rack in the oven to preheat. Sauté your morels with 1 Tbsp butter and a little salt and freshly ground pepper just until they soften. Set them aside with your other toppings. Finely chop the ramp bulbs. Cut the greens from the ramps into one inch pieces and mix the greens with the arugula.
Sprinkle corn meal on the pizza peel, and form your dough. Even though you don’t have four arms, simultaneously with getting that crust ready you need to heat the butter in a pan, and sauté the finely chopped ramp bulbs a little. You can use the same pan you used for the mushrooms, and you don’t even have to wipe it out. Add the flour, and stir to form a paste. Cook this paste a little (a minute or so) so that your sauce does not taste like raw flour. It will start to get translucent. When it does, stir in the heavy whipping cream. As soon as it starts to thicken cut the heat. If you make this too much in advance it will start to separate as it sits. A whisk and a little more cream can usually save it, but that’s why I said you need to make it simultaneously. It won’t taste bad if it separates. It will just look clumpy, and no one likes that look, even if you ARE about to cover it with toppings.
Spread the smooth sauce on the dough. Dot with small piles of caramelized onions. and add the toppings, mozzarella cheese last. Bake it 18-22 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Enjoy the fruits of your foraging and kitchen labor. Italy meets Appalachia, and, just like that, my heritage is revealed.
Morel Mushroom Pasta with Spring Peas in a Cream Wash
1 c. Morels cut into 1” pieces
1 c. Peas
1 pound rigatoni
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped (You can use 1 ramp bulb instead if you have it.)
1/2 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
Salt and pepper to taste.
As an Italian girl, everything screams for pasta. And when getting creative in the kitchen I often devote time thinking about which pasta is “right” for a specific dish. Once you learn why certain pastas call for certain sauces you will have upped your pasta game, and you will be on the way to “Italian Cook” status. Here the choice of rigatoni stands up to the flavor and texture of the mushrooms and allows the cream wash to cling to the ridges perfectly.
Boil a pot of salted water. When you make pasta, Italians will tell you that the water should be salty “come il mare” (like the sea). While the water comes to a boil slice the morels. Shell the peas if they are fresh. If you are using frozen peas cover them in hot tap water and let them sit.
When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the rigatoni. You will cook it until it is almost al dente. Meanwhile add the olive oil to a pan and sauté the morels until soft. Remove them from the pan and drain any water from the pan. Wipe the pan clean. Now melt the butter in the skillet when the pasta is almost done. Sauté the peas just until bright green. Add the garlic or ramp bulb and sauté just until fragrant. Add back the morels and the cream and immediately cut the heat.
When the pasta is almost done, pull out 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain it and stir it immediately into the morels and peas. Toss gently to coat. You are looking for a cream “wash,” so it will not be thick. If it seems too dry add a little of the pasta water. You can serve it with fresh shaved Parmesan.
Now before the Italians get out their pitchforks and lament, as I have done for years, that there simply ARE no peas in the Carbonara, let me point out that there simply are no eggs in this recipe, so it’s not really a Carbonara or even a bad take on a Carbonara. It’s really a marriage of seasonal glory. The contrast of bright, early, spring peas and earthy, hearty morels. And, let’s face it, butter and cream usually make everything better.