Fresh morel mushroom fettucini in cream sauce, with garlic scape spinach pesto

I don't get excited about much these days. The other day I strolled down to the once a week, little outdoor market, and saw the mushroom vendor. I got quite excited finally. The market only comes to a local park in summer and early fall. Everything is local including the items from the mushroom vendor.

The first thing I noticed was lions mane, but beside them were morels. I have never eaten a morel mushroom ever in any form. The vendor told me it would be the last week for the fresh ones. I took around 400 grams I think. I just told her more, more, more. She was surprised.

Because I had never tried these, I wasn't sure what to do with them at first. I thought about my new pasta machine and making pasta. I had not yet tried the fettuccine cutter. From there I decided on fettuccine and mushrooms, which would substitute fettuccine and clams. I used to love that back in the day when I ate seafood.

I felt privileged to have this opportunity to try these. In recent years I have taken more and more interest in different mushrooms that you can't find in an average grocery around here. The look of these mushrooms is kind of creepy yet somehow beautiful at the same time. The texture is delicate and slightly gelatinous.

I decided to coat them slightly in flour, in order to help thicken the sauce. I wasn't sure what I was doing at this point.

I minced up a few cloves of garlic and a shallot to saute with the mushrooms.

After browning the shallots and mushrooms in vegan butter and olive oil, I added mushrooms. The pan was on medium high heat.

When the mushrooms were browned all over I added some white wine and vegetable broth. then I added vegan cooking cream. I used soy cream but there are different creams that could be used. I find that soy cream is the most neutral. You can just use plant milk and a little more flour instead. It depends on how thick you want your sauce.

At the last minute I decided to add some capers that I had in the fridge. I also added black pepper, a squeeze of fresh lemon and lemon zest.

The little market had fresh produce at another stand beside the mushroom vendor so I bought a few herbs and some zucchini. I decided to saute some to add to the pasta.

I did this in a separate pan with a little sliced onion, salt and pepper.

I bought some lovely garlic scapes that looked so fresh. I wasn't sure what I would do with them when I bought them, then decided to make a pesto with them. I also bought fresh oregano and thyme which were added to the mix.

The pesto was made with the same ingredients as I would likely use for a basil pesto. The only thing is that I added spinach and parsley which was in my fridge and had to be used.

Along with olive oil I added the juice of 2 fresh lemons.

It was first put in the food processor then blended to a cream in my blender.

This was going to be added to the fettuccine. I love garlic so this was a nice way to make the dish nice and garlicky. The leftovers will be used for toast or more pasta, or added to a salad dressing.

The pasta was a combination of semolina flour and all purpose. I used 2 parts semolina and 1 part all purpose. After adding around 3/4 cups lukewarm water, I kneaded it until it was smooth and not sticky but soft enough to roll out. I am not an expert pasta maker but I am happy with the results.

I'm still experimenting with my machine so right now it's not the easiest thing to do but I love the result so much that I have a difficult time buying packaged pasta now. It's much different and I have decided that it's much more enjoyable but I do still like store bought pasta. It's what I grew up on and had most of my life. Not to mention convenient.

I rolled it out by hand then rolled it in the machine on the wide setting before I put it in the fettuccine cutter. No photos of that. I had to hand crank with one hand and gently guide the fettuccine onto the cutting board.

After cutting the pasta I carefully coated the strands with semolina flour to prevent from sticking. I would like to have a pasta hanger so I can dry them but the kitchen store nearby hasn't received them yet. I like to give the local merchants my business when I can.

Because they hadn't dried much, I was very careful not to overcook them. I like my pasta al dente and fresh pasta doesn't take more then a few minutes.

The water was at a rolling boil before I put them in. I checked them after a minute then another minute. I knew they would keep cooking after I drained the water so I made sure they were out before they were thoroughly cooked. I can't say exactly how long it was but perhaps around 3 or 4 minutes. It's something you have to keep checking.

In the bowl I spread some of the pesto on the bottom, then placed the fettuccine which was gently tossed with the morels and sauce. I also added the zucchini while tossing the sauce and pasta together.

All of the ingredients are approximate.

Morels in cream sauce
1/2 to 3/4 pounds of fresh morels
3 cloves garlic minced
1 shallot minced
1 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup plant based cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Lemon zest
A sprinkle of capers (optional)
A dash of truffle oil (optional)

If didn't add the pesto, I would have added more herbs to the sauce. I really like fresh herbs during this season when I can get them. But I had the pesto which had the herbs in it so I didn't bother putting much into the sauce except for parsley.

Garlic scape spinach pesto
1 to 2 cups chopped garlic scapes
1 1/2 cup walnuts
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
Leaves from a sprig of fresh oregano
Leaves from a sprig of fresh thyme
Handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
A dash of agave nectar(optional)
I like to add a little sweetness when I use a lot of lemon. But not so much that it taste sweet. That's just my preference.

Pasta
2 cups semolina
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

I was very pleased with the morels. It reminded me of oysters without the fishiness. I used to love seafood so this was a nice treat for me. The flavor of the morels for me can be described as earthy, slightly nutty and almost sweet with a concentrated mushroomy taste. But that's the answer I would give, if I had a gun to my head. I really don't know. I just loved the texture and taste.

Yesterday we received a book that Marc had ordered. It was titled "How to forage mushrooms without dying" I love it but this is in case we are forced into a situation where we have to fight for survival. In the meantime, I await the mushroom vendor's next arrival.

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