Also known as the sweet tooth and pied de mouton, wild hedgehog mushrooms are great in just about any recipe you'd use mushrooms. A good way to enjoy them at home is in a simple pasta where they can show off their meaty texture and mild, nutty flavor. In this post I'll walk you through two hedgehog mushroom pasta recipes: one where they're in the background, and one where they're the main focal point of the dish.
1. Hedgehog Pasta with Tomatoes and Mint
The first dish is a simple recipe where the hedgehogs are a textural element and will blend into the background. Tomatoes, mint, mushroom and hot chili is a classic flavor combination you can use with many mushrooms. The images below illustrate the process.
First the mushrooms are sauteed and moved to the side of the pan. Then sliced garlic is added and cooked until just golden. Shallot is added to stop the garlic from over cooking.
Next the pan is deglazed with white wine and cooked down. Chopped, peeled tomatoes are added, along with chicken stock.
To finish the dish you add freshly cooked pasta, a good knob of unsalted butter, a pinch of hot chili, sliced fresh mint, and pecorino cheese.
2. Hedgehog Lovers Pasta
In this recipe the hedgehog mushrooms are the focus of the dish. Essentially you're making a light pasta flavored with herbs and lemon, and spooning a generous pile of sauteed hedgehog mushrooms on top. It's an easy, simple way to really taste the mushroom flavor.
First garlic and shallot are cooked in a pan, then wine is added and cooked down, then chicken stock.
Next cooked pasta is added, along with butter and a few scrapes of lemon zest. Then the pasta is taken off the heat while you saute some mushrooms.
Finally you sauté a pile of hedgehog mushrooms. When the mushrooms are done, you quickly reheat the pasta, toss in a handful of cheese and twirl the noodles into a bowl. The sauteed hedgehog mushrooms are spooned on top to serve.
Hedgehog Mushroom Pasta
Equipment
- 2 10 inch saute pans or skillets
- 1 Pasta pot
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz fresh hedgehog mushrooms
- 4 oz dried pasta such as fettucine or spaghetti
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp fresh cut chives to garnish
- 3 scrapes fresh lemon zest a small amount to taste
- 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice to taste
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced roughly 2 oz
- 1 large clove garlic thinly sliced
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until aldente, toss with a teaspoon of oil and reserve.
- Trim the stems of the hedgehog mushrooms so they're bite sized.
- In a 10 inch skillet, sweat the garlic and shallot in a tablespoon of the oil until translucent.
- Add the wine and cook down by half. Then add the chicken stock, butter, lemon zest, thyme and cooked pasta. Remove the pasta from the heat and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, cook the hedgehog mushrooms on medium-high heat in the remaining oil until lightly browned and cooked through. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper.
- Quickly reheat the pasta, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, toss, turn off the heat and mix in the cheese.
- Twirl the noodles into two preheated pasta bowls. Divide the sauteed mushrooms on top between the two bowls, garnish with chives and parmesan, and serve.
Video
Notes
Pasta with Hedgehog Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Mint
An alternate version where the mushrooms are more of a textural element. Serves 2-4 Ingredients- 4 oz dried pasta
- 8 oz hedgehog mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- ½ cup chopped peeled tomatoes (2 Roma tomatoes)
- 1 tablespoon sliced fresh mint
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup grated pecorino cheese
- Score the tomatoes and core them, then blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds or until the skins start to peel. Peel the tomatoes, squeeze the seeds out, roughly chop and reserve.
- In a wide pan like a 10 inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and add the mushrooms. Cook until they’ve released their liquid, then move the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the remaining oil and the sliced garlic.
- Cook until the garlic starts to brown on the edges, then add the shallots, stir and mix with the mushrooms and cook for a minute more, until the shallots are translucent. Add the wine and cook off, then add the tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente.
- Add the pasta to the pan, along with the butter and simmer for a minute to coat the noodles with the sauce. Add the mint, double check the seasoning for salt and pepper and adjust until it tastes good to you and the sauce is thickened lightly.
- Off the heat, toss in a handful of pecorino cheese, divide the pasta between two preheated bowls and serve.
Trent and Judy
Best pasta with hedgehog mushrooms I've ever had. What other species would be good to use here?
Fred Clement
Man that looks GREAT and I can't wait to try it!
Harry (Malone Diche)
These look delicious and your timing is perfect! I was really fortunate to find Hydnum repandum in abundance recently. Extra large ones over 6 to 9 inches and virtually pristine (minus some minor slug bites on a couple). We have two variants in Michigan that I'm aware of; Hydnum repandum and Hydnum imbricatus, which to me tastes like eating lignin off the underside of bark from a long fallen tree.
I also have a bunch of sumac which I harvested and have been looking for an excuse to put to good use. I think I'll put a twist on the Hedgehog lovers recipe and swap the lemon out for the sumac I have. 'Course I'll have to name it something else too. Maybe "Ron Jeremy's linguine"... and in keeping with the theme I'll swap out the chicken stock for my venison stock to represent the fur coat of its namesake.
Cheers!
Harry "Malone"
Alan Bergo
Thanks for commenting Harry