Hedgehog Recipes

About

Hedgehog mushrooms (various species of Hydnum) are a cousin to Golden Chanterelles with teeth under their cap instead of false gills. Their earthy flavor may not get as much attention as their apricot-scented relatives, but don't let that fool you-they're delicious.

If you're new to these, take a look at The Forager's Guide to Hedgehog Mushrooms.

Favorites

| Wild Mushroom Conserve (Pickled Mushrooms) |
| Hedgehog Mushroom Soup with Beans, Watercress and Tomato |
| Butternut Squash Steaks with Mushrooms and Salsa Verde |
| Kernza Salad with Butternuts and Hedgehog Mushrooms |

Note the pronounced teeth under the caps of this double.

General Cooking

Just like chanterelles, these like to be cooked whole. If they're large, they can be cut up and used as you would any other variety, but if I can, I try to leave them whole if they're bite-sized, or will be after cooking.

Leave them whole for pops of flavor if they can fit on a spoon.

This means you get whole mushrooms on a spoon that give a pop of flavor-great for soup and piling on top of a steak or bowl of pasta.

The Jumbo Variety

Across North America there's also jumbo varieties called Hydnum albomagnum (big white). If you find a patch your lucky: they're the best of the group and more difficult to find. The caps are so large that you can grill them like a piece of meat.

H. albomagnum can be as big as hamburger buns.