Asparagus With Morels and Tarragon
Updated Dec. 12, 2022
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼ to ½ounce dried morels or porcinis, or a combination
- ¼cup ( ½ stick) butter
- ½cup chopped shallots
- 1pound fresh shiitake or white button mushrooms or a combination, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
- 1 to 1½pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1½ -inch lengths
- ¼cup heavy cream
- 1teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil
- Salt
- pepper to taste
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
224 calories; 18 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 716 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put morels, porcinis or both in a bowl with very hot water to cover; soak until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain morels and reserve soaking liquid. Cut morels in half; if porcinis are large, chop them roughly.
- Step 2
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when butter is hot and foam has subsided, add shallots and reconstituted and fresh mushrooms to pan. Cook until shallots soften and fresh mushrooms have released their liquid and it has cooked off, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Add asparagus and ½ cup reserved liquid to pan. Bring liquid to a boil, cover, reduce heat so mixture simmers, and continue cooking for another 2 to 4 minutes, or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Add cream and tarragon or chervil and continue cooking, uncovered, until sauce thickens slightly and asparagus is tender, about 4 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
Renee- soak in salt water for at least 6 hours, rinse well. Slicing in half lengthwise before soaking.
No matter how thoroughly I clean or soak morels, I always end up with grit in the finished dish. Does anyone have any tips to share for cleaning morels?
I was told by my mushroom seller to swirl them around in a large bowl of water at least five times, changing the water each time. Seemed to work fine.
One of the best meals I’ve ever had, with fresh yellow morels I foraged. One change I’d recommend is to add the morels before the shallots and double the cooking time with lower heat. Morels are poisonous when raw or undercooked and give some people digestive issues. Thorough cooking is ideal (and tasty). Let the morels caramelize slowly, and add a splash of water as needed if they begin to dry out. Once they begin to turn golden brown, add the shallots, which go quite a bit quicker.
I also made two other changes. I added a couple cloves of garlic, because I generally love garlic and figured it would play well here (it did). And I only used morels without the shiitake, button mushrooms, or porcinis. This could be cost-prohibitive if you are buying your morels, but if you have a large bounty from a successful foraging day, you can eat like a king! Great recipe overall, and I’m sure it would be delicious with or without these modifications.
Saw a recipe on the internet that said to saute the morels in a dry pan till they give off their liquid. Add butter later in the cooking because it will otherwise burn. Think I'll try that.
Green beens work too! Asparagus is $5 a bunch right now. And, it didn't look good, to boot. They were delicious and kept a nice crunch.