Morel Mushroom Carbonara
By Luke Smithson
Yield: 6 generous servings
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 oz Pancetta, chopped into thin strips
16 oz Fresh Morels, chopped into bite size pieces
14 oz Fresh Linguine Noodles
1 Tbsp Minced Shallots
½ cup reserved pasta water (this is the water you are cooking your noodles in)
3 each Eggs; whipped.
2/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ cup Chopped Parsley
Really good salt
Really good, fresh ground black pepper
-Bring 1 gallon of salted water to a rapid boil.
-Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crispy.
-Remove pancetta and half of rendered fat. Add morels and cook until caramelized. When morels are nearly cooked, return cooked pancetta and minced shallots to pan and allow morels to finish cooking. Keep hot!
-While morels are cooking, add fresh linguine noodles to boiling water. Stir well.
-When noodles are almost fully cooked (about 30 seconds from being al dente), drain pasta (don’t forget to reserve ½ cup hot pasta water). Fresh pasta will take approximately 4 minutes to cook.
-Return pasta pot to stove over high heat. Working quickly, add remaining pancetta fat to pot, then add hot pasta, cooked pancetta/morel mixture and reserved ½ cup of pasta water. Stir well while cooking for 60 seconds then turn off heat. Add whipped eggs and stir for additional 30 seconds then add parmesan cheese and parsley. Take care to stir gently so as not to break up your pasta! The eggs will turn creamy and form the carbonara sauce.
-Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Notes:
Fresh morels are one of the most sought after gourmet mushrooms, only available seasonally during the spring. Mushroom hunters enter the woods in droves and guardedly keep their mushroom patch locations secret as morels are known to reappear year after year in the same areas.
Fresh morels can be purchased in specialty food stores or online during the spring months. If fresh morels cannot be found, substitute with 3 oz dried morels. To reconstitute, add 1 gallon of simmering water to morels, cover and let sit for 30 minutes and strain. Reuse the morel reconstituting water as your pasta water for maximum morel flavor!
Do not eat the morels raw, as they can cause stomach upset. Always cook morels 100% before eating!
By Luke Smithson
Yield: 6 generous servings
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 oz Pancetta, chopped into thin strips
16 oz Fresh Morels, chopped into bite size pieces
14 oz Fresh Linguine Noodles
1 Tbsp Minced Shallots
½ cup reserved pasta water (this is the water you are cooking your noodles in)
3 each Eggs; whipped.
2/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ cup Chopped Parsley
Really good salt
Really good, fresh ground black pepper
-Bring 1 gallon of salted water to a rapid boil.
-Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crispy.
-Remove pancetta and half of rendered fat. Add morels and cook until caramelized. When morels are nearly cooked, return cooked pancetta and minced shallots to pan and allow morels to finish cooking. Keep hot!
-While morels are cooking, add fresh linguine noodles to boiling water. Stir well.
-When noodles are almost fully cooked (about 30 seconds from being al dente), drain pasta (don’t forget to reserve ½ cup hot pasta water). Fresh pasta will take approximately 4 minutes to cook.
-Return pasta pot to stove over high heat. Working quickly, add remaining pancetta fat to pot, then add hot pasta, cooked pancetta/morel mixture and reserved ½ cup of pasta water. Stir well while cooking for 60 seconds then turn off heat. Add whipped eggs and stir for additional 30 seconds then add parmesan cheese and parsley. Take care to stir gently so as not to break up your pasta! The eggs will turn creamy and form the carbonara sauce.
-Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Notes:
Fresh morels are one of the most sought after gourmet mushrooms, only available seasonally during the spring. Mushroom hunters enter the woods in droves and guardedly keep their mushroom patch locations secret as morels are known to reappear year after year in the same areas.
Fresh morels can be purchased in specialty food stores or online during the spring months. If fresh morels cannot be found, substitute with 3 oz dried morels. To reconstitute, add 1 gallon of simmering water to morels, cover and let sit for 30 minutes and strain. Reuse the morel reconstituting water as your pasta water for maximum morel flavor!
Do not eat the morels raw, as they can cause stomach upset. Always cook morels 100% before eating!
