Y’all, I harvested my first batch of morel mushrooms last week, and I have to say, the whole process was so much fun! I noticed a few mushrooms growing on our property. Once I began searching, I gathered a big bowl full of these prized beauties. Probably two pounds!
According to reports from those in the know, this spring’s morel season is a stellar one. Conditions have been perfect for these gifts from the forest.
John was sure I was trying to poison him. You see, we missed the fungi class during our Master Naturalist training so he was skeptical. But real morels are easily distinguishable from false morels. Real morels are hollow inside from stem to cap.
See?
Even so, I tasted them first.
Delicious. Very earthy and rich. And mixed with fettuccine, they made for a quick yet decadent supper.
Finding Morels
They grow in early spring on the edge of forests and are often found on southern facing slopes near Ash, Elm, and Oak trees.
If you notice trillium growing in the woods, you know the time is right for morels.
Click HERE for an article on the 10 best places to find morels.
Cleaning Morels
In general I never wash mushrooms because they soak up the water like sponges. Instead, I dry brush them. For white button mushrooms, I use a dry paper towel. For morels, my silicone pastry brush worked well to sweep into the cracks and crevices.
These were pretty clean. I only found one tiny little ant in the whole bunch.
I trimmed off the ends and sliced them lengthwise. For the larger ones, I sliced again to make the pieces somewhat consistent in size.
You can adjust ingredients according to your particular flavor preferences. Fontina cheese, tarragon, and rosemary pair well with morel mushrooms...
Ingredients
- 2 pounds mushrooms
- olive oil
- 2 pats of butter
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 Tablespoon diced yellow onion
- 1 package of dried fettuccine (or fresh)
- 3/4 cup diced Fontina cheese
- Tarragon (dash)
- 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary
- Black Pepper (to taste)
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter
- Garlic Salt
Instructions
- Sauté mushrooms in olive oil until softened and slightly browned.
- Add butter, garlic, and onion. Sauté until onion and garlic are browned.
- Cook fettuccine according to package. Drain. Pour into large serving bowl.
- Add diced fontina cheese on top of hot fettuccine.
- In a small bowl, mix melted butter, sprinkle of garlic salt, tarragon, rosemary and black pepper to taste. Drizzle over cheese and fettuccine. Toss to mix. Add mushrooms.
- Serve and enjoy immediately.
Yum!
Guess what? No one died:))
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
P.S. I’m not a mushroom expert, and I don’t advocate eating just any old mushroom you find growing willy nilly in the forest.
That looks delicious!
I was skeptical, but they were very good. We all lived to tell the story. (They came out of my front yard.)
I never could stand those things! ? However, you make them look delicious! We find them on our land and it is fun to search for them. My brother-in-law will gather, cook, and enjoy them.
Haha! Do you dislike mushrooms in general? You could sell them at the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market and make some good $$$.
Basically but the wild ones I’ve found have bugs! Ugh!