Never heard of pickling morel mushrooms? You're missing out. Drying morels is great, their flavor gets concentrated and rich and they make a wicked sauce. There's a bit of a trade off in their texture though, which happens when you dry any mushroom. After drying, mushrooms get a bit more chewy, and just aren't as succulent as fresh.
Part of the issue of pickled morels sounding odd is that you generally think of pickles as something you eat cold, but they're just as good if not better warmed up or used any way that you'd like to serve fresh morels.
Since they're pickles, they're a bit acidic, but that acid can be a real benefit if you know what to do with them. Slipping them into a sauce or gravy will fool anyone you know, I guarantee you. The acid added to them in the pickling process also makes them a shoe-in for a vinaigrette or salad, the possibilities are really endless.
Small morels have the best texture for pickling, but larger ones will still taste good.
Before I wrote this recipe a while back, I'd pickled plenty of wild mushrooms, for some reason it never occurred to me to pickle morels though. I was looking through an old Roman cookbook of mine one day, and saw a cooking method I recognized as a basic pickle. The method called for morels to be cooked with verjus (acidic juice of unripe grapes) and oil. I knew I had to try pickling them, a couple years later I've used the basic recipe for hundreds of pounds of these guys.
Pickled Morel Mushrooms
Ingredients
- Roughly 1.5 lbs fresh small morels
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 5 black peppercorns
- 1 cup champagne vinegar
- A few small sprig of fresh thyme
- 1 Large clove garlic Thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon Cooking oil
Instructions
- Wash and clean the morels to remove grit, making sure to leave the morels whole.
- Heat the oil and garlic until the garlic is lightly browned and caramelized, but not burnt. Add the water, salt, thyme, vinegar and pepper then bring to a simmer. Add the fresh morels and cook, about 3-4 minutes, until they wilt and decrease in size. Discard the garlic.
- Place the morels and the pickling liquid into ½ pint or pint canning jars and process in a water bath canner for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Nancy
How much oil and garlic do you suggest for 1.5 pounds of morels?
Thanks!
Tom Smith
Its listed in ingredients above.
Natalie
I have read that you should not can morels because they can release toxins...is there/this a safe repine to use?
Natalie
I have read that you should not can morels because they can release toxins…is there/this a safe recipe to use?
Alan Bergo
I wouldn't put it on here if I haven't eaten it or made it myself. Yes, it's safe, be careful about believing everything you read, make sure people quote sources and it's not just hearsay.
brant gaar
How much oil does the recipe call for? Thanks for an idea I never knew about. It is great to have another Morel option.
Alan Bergo
Thanks for catching that typo. I adjusted it. 1 Tbsp is fine.
Bob Atkinson
Can you pickle blanched and frozen whole small morels?
Alan Bergo
Hi Bob. Technically yes but I wouldn't. I also don't blanch morels, I would steam or sweat.