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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Andy’s Morel and Ramp Spaghetti

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Morel pasta with ramps recipe Just about every year I try to get out and hunt a few morels with my old chef, friend and mentor Chef Andy Lilja, former Chef de Cuisine of Heartland, Executive Chef of il Vesco Vino, I Nonni, and many others. We usually try to get permission to hunt some land near Frontenac that reliably produces, but hadn’t been back to the honey hole for a few years.

This year we were back, after a bit of a hiatus due to a misunderstanding with a certain cousin, and a few large trout removals from the stream near where the elm-studded woods are. As luck would have it, the morels were there, and, they were glorious–those big fat Midwestern blonde morels everyone loves to pick.

Morel pasta with ramps recipe

After our hunt, we sat around and shot the breeze over a few beers, talked about the current restaurant climate (horrible due to the coronavirus) and of course, what we planned to make with our haul. Both Andy and I cut our teeth in nice Italian restaurants, and share a penchant for a good bowl of pasta, so morel and ramp spaghetti was on the menu.

Later that evening, I got a text from him outlining the  recipe he made, and it sounded so good that I had to make the same thing when I got back. It’s really simple, and a great example of what a chef wants to eat after a day of hunting morels.

Morel mushroom and ramp spaghetti recipe

The secret is in a couple special ingredients, that, while optional, definitely push a simple bowl of spaghetti into the “last meal” category of foodstuffs. First, a little anchovy.

Yep. Not a lot, just enough to give the dish a little funk. Second is ramp leaf butter, although if you only have a couple ramps, you can add those and you’ll still have a great meal. Keep it in your back pocket for the next time you have some ramps and morels together, and want to celebrate the season.

Morel pasta with ramps recipe

Morel pasta with ramps recipe
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Andy’s Morel and Ramp Spaghetti

Spaghetti with morel mushrooms, ramps, white wine and butter
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Morels, Ramp Leaf Recipes, Ramps
Servings: 1

Ingredients

  • 4-8 ounces fresh morels depending on availability
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or a couple filets optional
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup chicken or other stock
  • Kosher salt to taste, plus more for the water
  • 3-4 Tablespoons grated parmesan
  • 4-5 large ramps bulbs and leaves sliced, reserved separately
  • 3 tablespoons ramp leaf butter or unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive or other cooking oil for sweating the morels and ramps

Instructions

  • If the morels are very large, halve them, small morels can be trimmed, rinsed, and added whole if clean. Rinse the morels in water to remove any detritus, then dry on towels.
  • Afterwords, cut the morels into roughly 2 inch pieces and reserve.
    Morel pasta with ramps recipe
  • Sweat the morels and ramps in the tablespoon of cooking oil, season with a pinch of salt, then add the anchovy paste stir and cook for a minute more. If the pan gets dry, add another glug of oil.
    Morel pasta with ramps recipe
  • When the pan starts to color around the edges, deglaze with the wine, cook down by half, then add the stock and cook down a bit more.
    Morel pasta with ramps recipe
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water, drain, and add to the pan with the morels and ramps.
    Morel mushroom and ramp spaghetti recipe
  • Add the chili, reserved ramp leaves and the ramp leaf butter if using, then reduce a bit more to concentrate the sauce, turning the pasta over with tongs to coat with the sauce.
    Morel mushroom and ramp spaghetti recipe
  • Double check the seasoning for salt, adjust as needed, toss in half the parmesan, divide between 2 heated bowls and serve with the extra parmesan on the side.
    Morel pasta with ramps recipe

More 

Forager’s Guide to Morel Mushrooms

 

 

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Alan Bergo
Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Pepin used to make for French president Charles de Gaulle. 

You bake eggs in a ramekin with shrimp topped with creamy morel sauce and eat with toast points. 

Makes for a really special brunch or breakfast. Recipe’s on my site, but it’s even better to watch Jacques make it on you tube. 

#jacquespepin #morels #shrimp #morilles #brunchtime
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
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