Wild Morel Mushrooms and Christmas Lima Beans
There is no finer luxury of spring than cooking up a fresh, wild growing, vegan morel mushroom recipe. Wild morel mushrooms have a rich, savory quality that no other mushroom can match, but Christmas Lima beans provide a similar, more earthy umami element. To make a filling meal, pasta is added and the whole dish is given a light note with fresh, blanched herbs.
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What are Morel Mushrooms?
Morels are a funny looking mushroom. To those in the foraging community, these first mushrooms of spring are a welcome sight, and a prized find. Since they tend to grace the same location year after year, mushroomers keep their morel locations a coveted secret. Because of their prestige in the edible mushroom repertoire, I tend to forget that to those who don’t frequent the forest these mushrooms may not be the most appealing. But these hollow, honeycombed beauties are possibly the most delicious mushroom I’ve ever had. They’re savory, flavorful and earthy while their texture is meaty. Despite their rather strange looking appearance, they’re texture and flavor are completely non-offensive- they’re not at all slimy, squishy, or strange tasting. They’re just delicious.
Finding and IDing Wild Morel Mushrooms
If you’re looking to buy morel mushrooms, you’ll notice that they’re also very expensive. That is because these mushrooms have not been successfully farmed, so they have to be foraged. And finding them is tough- not only because no one will tell you where to look- but also because they camouflage well, and are only up for a few weeks in spring. But despite the challenges of finding them, once you’ve located them they are easy to identify- with a little help, even a beginner should have no problem. Morels come in various shades of white, blonde, tan, brown and black. There are a couple mushrooms that look sort of like a morel (called false morels), but they are fairly easy to distinguish between (the easiest way is to cut them in half- morels are completely hallow, but the false morels have a stringy inside). As always, practice caution, do your research, and never ever eat a mushroom if you are unsure of its edibility.
Rancho Gordo Christmas Lima Beans
The other more unusual ingredient I used in this recipe are the Christmas Lima beans- and let me assure you they are of an entirely different nature than your average Lima bean. I get my Christmas Lima beans from Rancho Gordo, a company that has completely changed beans for me. No longer do I think of beans as a background player, adding bulk to a meal. Now I put my beans front and center, because Rancho Gordo’s heirloom beans are unique, and far more delicious with deeper flavors than your supermarket canned varieties. Their Christmas Lima beans are probably my favorite bean (although i have yet to try a bean of theirs I dislike). They are large, beefy, and taste a little like chestnuts. It’s not my first time to use them in a recipe- my Christmas Lima bean soup is another great recipe to try if you place an order with Rancho Gordo.
Looking for Bean Recipes? Try one of these!
- Teff Vegan Burger with White Beans and Mushrooms
- Giant Buffalo Beans- White Beans in Buffalo Sauce
- Hearty Bean Dinner Salad with Sun Dried Tomato Dressing
- Vegan Posole with Tempeh and Mushrooms
- Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
Making Wild Morel Mushrooms and Christmas Lima Beans over Pasta
This recipe seems fairly complicated, but it’s really pretty simple. You have a pot of boiling water, and a skillet of hot vegan butter. Ingredients go in one or the other, and then come out. It’s the timing that’s a little tricky. The beans take by far the longest go cook- about 40-60 minutes. As the beans get closed to done, you’ll want to add your pasta and the two cook together. While all that’s going on, you can use the same pasta water to blanch your parsley and cilantro (for just a minute or two) before removing them and shocking under cold water. This dish uses herbs more as vegetables- a lot like crown daisy– rather than just a garnish on top. To make matters a little more complicated, there’s still that skillet of butter to think about. Fortunately this ones a little easier.
The morels are cooked in the hot butter, for a few minutes on each side, until they are crispy. Remove the morels from the pan, but don’t get rid of the extra butter! This recipe is tied together by tossing the beans, pasta and a little bit of the bean broth all together in the skillet. The last step is scooping the beans and pasta into a dish, adding the blanched herbs and topping with the crispy vegan morel mushrooms. Delicious!
Wild Morel Mushrooms and Christmas Lima Beans over Pasta (Vegan)
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried Christmas lima beans
- 2 bay leaves
- 4-5 cups of water
- 5-7 fresh morel mushrooms (depending on size)
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 8 oz. pasta (spaghetti or linguini)
- 2.5 oz. fresh parsley and/or cilantro
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the Christmas lima beans, bay leaves and water in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil before covering and reducing to a simmer. Allow it to simmer until they are almost perfectly soft (around 40 minutes) before salting, to taste.
- In the meantime, gently clean your morels and slice in half vertically. After the beans have been cooking for at least 30 minutes, heat the vegan butter on medium high in a large skillet. Once it is melted and hot, place the morels in the butter. Cook for 4-6 minutes, before flipping and allowing the other side to cook. Place the cooked morels aside, and save the remaining butter in the pan.
- Once the beans are cooked (or nearly cooked), bring up to a boil and add the pasta to the saucepan (add more water before if necessary). While the pasta is cooking add the fresh herbs to the saucepan (don’t stir in) and blanch for about 1 minute, before removing and shocking under cool water. Set aside.
- Once the pasta is cooked drain the pasta and the beans, but keep ¼ cup of the liquid. Heat up the pan used to cook the morels, and add the pasta, beans, and ¼ cup of cooking broth, tossing until most of the liquid has evaporated and all of the noodles are lightly coated. Serve the pasta and beans with the blanched herbs and morel mushrooms on top.
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