Poached Morels, Roasted Ramps, Ramp Pesto

Here's a little appetizer I created in order to feature two of my favorite ways to serve ramps and morels.  As I've mentioned before, I love to poach morels slowly in half and half.  This produces soft, tender, creamy morels, but it also creates a cream infused morel liquid that I can use as a phenomenal finishing sauce. 

You know how I feel about ramps. I like to separate the white bulbs from the green tops, so I thought I'd use them both in the same dish.  I pan roasted the white ramp bulbs in olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.  I then blanched the green tops for 30 secs, dried them, then pureed them in a food processor with pine nuts, olive oil, and some parm regg cheese to create a pesto-like sauce.  I spoon a little of that morel cream around the ramp and morel salad for an excellent and simple little spring treat. 

Below is my recipe for the poached morels.  Sorry, not in the mood to write recipes for the rest.  Word.

FoodieNYC's Favorite Recipe for Morels

1/4 lb fresh morels
1 pint half and half
1 stick unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon
1 bunch tarragon (optional)

Make the Morels

Rinse the morels if you taste them and there are a bit gritty with sand. Drop the morels in a bowl of water and lift out with your hands, drying gently with paper towels.

Put one tablespoon of butter in a small pot and bring to medium heat. Add the morels and season with salt and pepper. Stir and saute morels for about two minutes. Add about a tablespoon of chopped tarragon. Add ½ cup half and half to the pot and turn the heat to low. Lightly season again with salt and pepper. Gently simmer the morels until they begin to soften, about 7 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.

Comments

[Michael Safdiah]

Thank you so much for reminding me that I'm not the only one who's crazy passionate over morels. I plan to buy a whole pound, render some bacon, toss in some sliced shallots, and add some rich heavy cream. Once the sauce is reduced, the morels go in, and cook until just done. Sometimes I do them with egg noodles, but more often I'll eat them without wasting the time.