Recipe: Morel Alfredo (vegetarian)

Spring has sprung and with it comes a bevy of fabulous, seasonal foods. We Americans have made sport, or profession, of cultivating foods out of season. We have access to an abundance of tasteless, farm-raised impostors throughout the year, but there are a few foods that are not easily coerced into relentless production. Soft shell crabs come to mind, as do green peanuts (the beloved snack of the south when boiled or fried), but what’s got my salivary glands going ga-ga today is the morel mushroom. Unless you hunt them yourself or know of a good farmers’ market morels are tricky to find fresh but, they are worth seeking out, at least once this time of year.

This pasta features morels and is excruciatingly fattening, which is why it taste so good. It’s also utterly simple to throw together and takes just minutes.

If you happen upon morels this weekend, I implore you to splurge on them, enjoy this pasta that evening (without a whisper of guilt), and go fo a run tomorrow.

1 cup heavy cream

1 stick butter

1 big handful of fresh morels, trimmed and washed well

1 big handful of shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and washed

1 large shallot, minced

1 good glug Madeira or sherry

1 ladle of pasta cooking water

2 tablespoons fresh green peppercorns in brine- drained- (or freshly some ground black pepper to taste)

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