Morel and Ramp Pasta - May 1, 2012

I saw the basket of morel mushrooms at the co-op last week and could not resist purchasing a small quantity for a special dinner.  At the co-op, morels are $50 a pound, so when I say "special" and "small quantity," I'm not kidding around.  Learning how to find these things in the wild has just risen to the top of my to-do list.    



The occasion was Nick's return home from a week-long trip to Hong Kong and the Philippines for work.  Such a homecoming called for a fancier than average weeknight meal.  To prepare the pasta, I cleaned and sliced the morels in half length-wise.  I plan to always slice the morels this way in the future because I found about 25 small ants living inside each of two of the hollow mushrooms and a little slug inside a third, none of which I would have known about if I'd decided to cook the mushrooms whole.  Easily removed and a clear sign of organic, foraged fungi, I didn't let the bugs bother me too much after my first initial gasp of surprise. 

I diced the bulbs and stems of a small bunch of ramps I'd been keeping in the refrigerator, reserving the green leaves to add later.  I sauteed the ramp bulbs in a generous pat of butter over medium heat for about five minutes and then added my morels with a pinch of salt.  This mix cooked happily for another five minutes or so, and then I added a splash of cream and some freshly ground pepper.  While this simmered gently, I grated in some fresh Pecorino-Romano and then added my partially cooked pasta right into the pan, along with some of the pasta water to help make a light sauce.  Right at the end I added the chopped ramp greens.

The end result was light and creamy, with balanced flavors of rich and earthy morels and bright, acidic ramps.  A reflexion of time and place, this meal is one way to define home.