Here's a secret: Because of their concentrated flavor, you only need a few dried morels and the water they soak in to perfume an entire sauce.
Wild Mushroom Pasta
This pasta dish, infused with the heady fragrance of morels, makes a lovely side dish or a light dinner.
Yield: serves 2-4
Ingredients
- 4 dried morels
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1⁄2 lb. domestic mushrooms, sliced
- 1⁄2 lb. pasta
- Italian parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Steep dried morels in 1 cup boiling water. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, brown onions and garlic in oil. When the garlic is golden, remove and discard.
- Add sliced mushrooms to pan and saute until tender.
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.
- Add morels and their liquor to sliced mushrooms and simmer for 3 minutes. Add a handful of chopped Italian parsley. When pasta is almost cooked, transfer it, along with 1⁄2 cup of the pasta cooking water, into the mushroom pan. Cover and simmer an additional 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
