Spaetzle With Asparagus Morels Recipes

Steps:

• Put first 4 ingredients into bowl and beat well with a whisk or egg beater. Add 2 cups flour and beat in until smooth, thick batter has been achieved.
• Using large rubber spatula or wooden spoon, continue to beat and fold in flour until you have produced an elastic, "pully" mixture that is more than batter (i.e., it won't pour) but rather less than dough (i.e., you can't pick it up in one piece). Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Bring 6 quarts of salted water to boil.
• Improvise spaetzle mill - something that will introduce mixture into water in small droplets or bits. Simplest device is a teaspoon: to use it, stand next to boiling pot with bowl of mixture in hand and flick small amounts of mixture (1/2 teaspoon, less if you have patience) into water. Alternatively, if you have colander with largish holes (1/8-inch or better) put mixture into it, perch it over boiling pot and force mixture through holes with rubber spatula. Best of all, if you have a flat tinned-steel shredder set select the "sled" with 1/2-inch openings, hold it upside down over the pot (using pliers or a pair of vise-grips), put some mixture in sled and, using a pancake turner, force it through holes.
• Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until done as desired. Drain, butter and serve.

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• Add asparagus and 1/2 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.

Steps:

• Snap off ends of white asparagus. Trim triangular leaves from sides, and peel spears. Cut top 2 inches off spears. Finely slice rest.
• Place tops in saucepan of salted water. Simmer 8 minutes. Add wild asparagus or green tips; simmer 2 minutes. Drain.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 2-quart saucepan. Add shallot and garlic; sauté over medium-low heat until tender. Do not brown. Remove half of shallot and garlic; set aside. Add sliced asparagus to saucepan, with chicken stock, bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme and salt and white pepper to taste. Simmer 10 minutes, until asparagus is very soft.
• Put morels in small saucepan. Add 1/2 cup water, reserved shallots, garlic and remaining thyme. Simmer 2 minutes, until water is almost evaporated. Add asparagus tops and wild asparagus or green tips, toss, and season with salt and pepper. Remove thyme.
• Remove herbs from saucepan with sliced asparagus. Add cream and remaining butter. Return to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to blender jar. Blend on very low a few seconds, then blend on highest speed about one minute.
• Divide morels, asparagus tops and wild asparagus or green tips in each of four soup bowls. Pour soup over, and serve. (Soup and garnish can also be chilled and served cold.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Snap off the ends of the asparagus (they will break naturally where their toughness begins), and peel the stalks.
• Clean the ramps and prepare the ramps according to the method described on page 33.
• Blanch the asparagus in heavily salted boiling water about 5 minutes, until tender. To test for doneness, take a spear out of the water, cut a small piece off the end, and taste it. (Remember, the spears will continue to cook a little as they cool.) Carefully remove the asparagus to a baking sheet to cool.
• If the morels are large, cut them in half.
• Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. (If you don't have a pan that's large enough to hold all of the vegetables, heat two pans and divide ingredients accordingly.) Add 4 tablespoons butter to the pan, and when it foams, scatter the morels into the pan, being careful not to overcrowd them. Sauté the mushrooms 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the thyme, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let the mushrooms cook another 6 to 8 minutes. They should be crispy on the outside, yet still tender. (The amount of cooking time really depends on the mushrooms; sometimes they give off water, which will require a longer cooking time, to allow the water to evaporate and the morels to crisp.)
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the mushrooms, and place the blanched asparagus carefully in the pan. Toss to coat the asparagus in all the mushroomy brown butter, and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the ramps to the pan, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook another 2 minutes, tossing often so all the flavors meld and everything is coated in the butter. Taste for seasoning.
• Spoon the polenta onto a large warm platter. Using tongs, arrange the asparagus and ramps, randomly overlapping them over the polenta. Spoon the morels and all the butter over the top, and scatter the parsley over everything.
• In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring 5 1/2 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add the polenta slowly, whisking continuously. Turn the heat down to low, and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, whisking often. Add another 1/2 cup water and cook 1 more hour, whisking often and adding 1/2 cup water as needed, about every 20 minutes. The flame should be low, so that the polenta is barely simmering. As you whisk, make sure that you reach the bottom of the pan to prevent the polenta from scorching. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot.
• Whisk in the butter, and taste for seasoning. Even when the polenta is finished, you might sense it thickening up a little. If so, add a little more water and whisk to get the right consistency. If you're not serving right away, cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep the polenta from thickening or losing moisture. If necessary, rewarm over low heat before serving.
• You can blanch the asparagus and ramps a few hours ahead.

Steps:

• Cook asparagus in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and cool.
• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add morels and sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add thyme and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until morels are tender, about 6 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to skillet, then add asparagus; toss to coat. Sauté 2 minutes. Add leeks; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Prepare fresh pasta if using.
• Soak dried morels in 1 cup warm water 20 minutes. Agitate morels to dislodge grit, then remove from water, squeezing liquid from mushrooms back into bowl. Reserve liquid. When grit has settled, carefully pour mushroom liquid into a small bowl, leaving sediment behind (if necessary, strain liquid through a dampened coffee filter or cheesecloth). Remove any tough stems from morels.
• Trim and discard tough ends from asparagus. Cut off top 2 inches of tips and halve tips lengthwise. Cut remaining asparagus into long diagonal slices about 1/4 inch thick.
• Simmer wine, lemon juice, and shallots in a large heavy skillet until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add cream and simmer 1 minute. Add morels, mushroom soaking liquid, and broth, then simmer 5 minutes. Add butter all at once and cook sauce over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, just until creamy and butter is incorporated. (Do not let sauce get so hot that butter separates and sauce loses creamy consistency.) Remove skillet from heat and season sauce with salt and pepper. Keep warm, covered.
• If using fresh taglierini, shake off excess flour. Cook fresh taglierini with asparagus in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. (For dried pasta, follow package instructions and add asparagus during last minute of cooking.) Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water and drain pasta and asparagus in a colander.
• Toss pasta and asparagus in a large bowl with ‚ cup sauce (without morels), one third of nasturtiums, and enough reserved pasta water to keep moist. Stir remaining nasturtiums into sauce.
• To serve, wind each portion of taglierini around a carving fork and transfer to center of a soup plate. Surround with asparagus, morels, and sauce.

Steps:

• Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl. Add fettuccine to same pot and cook until tender but still firm to bite. Drain fettuccine. Return pasta and asparagus to same pot.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over low heat. Add garlic and tarragon and stir 1 minute. Add morels and sauté 4 minutes. Add cream and broth; boil until morels are tender and sauce thickens slightly, about 4 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Add sauce to pasta and asparagus; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Pass remaining Parmesan separately.

Steps:

• Cook white and green asparagus separately in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, until just tender, about 5 minutes for white asparagus; about 3 minutes for green asparagus.
• Transfer asparagus with a slotted spoon to a colander and rinse under cold water (to stop cooking), then drain again. Pat dry.
• Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté shallots, stirring, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add morels and sauté, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, tarragon, salt, pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoons butter and sauté, stirring, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Beat the eggs. Add the flour and seasonings.
• Slowly add the milk, forming a thick batter.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Using a spaetzle grid or colander and a stiff spatula, place over boiling water. Put a small amount of batter in the center and press through the holes. When the surface of the water is covered with pieces of dough, simmer three to four minutes or until cooked through.
• Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again. Repeat with remaining dough.
• If made ahead, toss lightly with neutral flavored oil and refrigerate.