The ultimate dish for the Passover holiday, wild morels have a longer and subtler flavor than other wild mushrooms. They are wild, so they require their own secret seasoning blend, but there are plenty of recipes that call for either a shallot or black garlic (another bonus ingredient) to marinate them. They are unscented — neither parmesan nor truffle aromas will be noticeable here — but this doesn’t seem to impact how they appear at all. Moreover, although they are supposedly “rich” in flavor, I was unable to detect any richness in my portion — this celery root was dressed with a homemade wild mushroom butter (using wild mushrooms in combination with butter is one of the healthiest and easiest tricks for hitting your healthy dietary goals).
If you are eating this dish like I did, layer the cooked noodles with a generous layer of wild mushroom cream sauce. I found that if you want to add more parsley, butter and thyme, then this is the right vehicle for it. Don’t expect to see any heavy cream here — this is finely pureed onion and truffle milk with no egg white at all.
I have been a huge fan of sage for a long time now, and the powder is intensely fragrant (a classic starter flavor for any chef). The milk and the rest of the sauce adds an interesting kick to the dish. Although I don’t usually use wild mushrooms as the backbone of my dishes, I was more tempted to try this with morels (and lobster) if it were less expensive.
This dish is a revelation for someone who has been hungry, and I have been making it regularly for months now. It’s a pleasure to have a hit on your plate in case something fails to show up — I know how utterly delicious this dish can be.
Enjoy!
Creamy Chicken Liver Pasta With Wild Morels
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 16 ounces hollow pasta noodles
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced and chilled (wild mushroom chiffonade or wild mushroom slices, if available, can be substituted)
Sea salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups sage (or other savory spice blend, such as thyme) powder
- 2 cups cold, sage-scented milk
-
1 small shallot or black garlic, thinly sliced
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta noodles and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, set aside and refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat, sauté the mushrooms with the olive oil until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add the butter, reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring often, until the butter has melted and the mushrooms have absorbed most of it, about 3 minutes.
- Add the sage powder and sage milk. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, until the shallots have caramelized and the mushrooms are wilted and glossy, about 3 minutes. Pour in the pasta noodles and stir well. Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients. Add more water to the pan if necessary to completely cover the noodles. If you have more than you need, stir it into the sauce immediately. Season to taste with salt.
- Serve piping hot and enjoy!
- Read the next page for recipes for aubergine artichoke and yummy wild mushroom and herb tagliatelle and more.