09 May Spring Pasta
Bring the flavors and treats of the spring season in to this special pasta dish.
Last week a neighbor shared her son’s massive haul of morels on social media, inquiring if her friends wanted any. Adam jumped on it. He loves morels.
Morels are a wild mushroom that people, well, go wild for in Indiana in the spring. They are found in the woods and people go “hunting” for them and are super secretive about where they find them. If you ever get invited on a hunt consider yourself very lucky.
These seasonal treats are here and gone in a flash making them a hot ticket– and price tag– on many menus. The mushrooms are rich and meaty. Many people often fry them, but they can stand on their own in a simple sauté.
That is what we did here with another spring specialty: Ramps.
Ramps are wild onion with tasty whites and green leaves.
We sautéed the whites with morels and a good amount of butter, then made a quick simple sauce with their flavors, cream, white wine, and lemon. Add a little chopped ham (ours was left over from another meal) and a handful of frozen peas and it’s a meal!
- ½ pound morel mushrooms, cleaned well (see tip) and sliced
- 4-6 ounces ramps, cleaned and white parts thinly sliced, green leaves julienned into ½ in ribbons
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup cooked ham, chopped or diced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup chicken stock or water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- salt and pepper
- 1 lemon
- 10 ounces pasta, cooked (we used spaghetti, but I feel like bow ties could be fun with this too!)
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook and stir morels, ramp whites and garlic in hot butter until the morels are just tender. About five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
- Add ham to the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes or until it is just starting to brown. Remove and add to bowl with mushrooms.
- Add white wine to the skillet and cook for a minute. Then add cream and stock. Cook and stir occasionally for about 7 minutes or until the sauce starts to slightly thicken. Return the morels, ramps and ham to the skillet and add peas. Cook about 3 minutes or until peas are no longer frozen. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the drained, cooked pasta to the skillet. Toss until well combined. Squirt with a big few squeezes of a lemon, toss, plate and top with parmesan cheese.
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