A few weeks ago, my friend dropped off some morel mushrooms that she had foraged in the PNW. I had heard of morel mushrooms before, but had never seen them before. Morels have a very distinct look: narrow stem with a honeycomb-looking cap and completely hollow on the inside. I sautéed a few up and was hooked on first bite. Morels have a really meaty texture and a relatively mild mushroom flavor. If you don’t like mushrooms, this might be a great mushroom to try to see how you may like it.

Prepping Morel Mushrooms

The cleaning process may be very involved if you are foraging for morels vs if you are buying them at the grocery store. Cutting the morel from the ground during harvest ensures that any extra dirt doesn’t get pulled up from the ground. If buying them from the grocery store, you may want to slice of a bit of the end of the stem to ensure that you aren’t getting any extra dirt in your finished dish. From there, slice your morels in half to inspect for any bugs, worms or holes that may be present. You will want to discard those mushrooms. Finally, after cutting your mushrooms, they can be dunked in salt water to dislodge any remaining dirt or use a gentle brush to remove the dirt from the mushroom cap.

Ingredients

Morel mushroom – You could really use any mushroom for this pasta dish. I’d recommend portobello, crimini, or shiitake mushrooms as more accessible substitutes, but really use whatever mushroom you’d like. If using larger mushrooms, cut them into smaller bite-sized pieces.

Garlic – The garlic makes the sauce all that more interesting but doesn’t overpower the mushroom flavor.

Pasta – Use whatever shape you like! I had some spirals available on hand but this would be really great with some long noodles too.

Try some other pasta like Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta.

Want a side for this pasta? I’d make some Honey Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts to accompany.

Having a dinner party? Make a dessert like Peach Galette to accompany.