Sauteed morels with white asparagus and fava beans

As soon as spring hits, I keep an eye out for fresh morels at the market. I was lucky enough to find some really nice ones a few weeks ago. I took a cue from Sunday Suppers at Lucques and combined the morels with white asparagus and fava beans to make a delicious spring vegetable dish. The original recipe uses ramps, but I couldn’t find any when I made this, so I used the fava beans instead.

There’s not much that's better than fresh morels with butter. The asparagus and fava beans complemented the morels nicely. I served this over polenta as a main course, but it would also work well as a side dish.

Sauteed morels

Today at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, I saw that the mushroom vendor was now carrying morels. Morels are in season for about 2 months, and I have been eagerly awaiting their arrival. This was the first time I cooked them myself. First, I rinsed the mushrooms thoroughly under running water - morels tend to trap a lot of dirt and bugs in their crevices, so it's important to get them really clean. I patted the mushrooms dry with paper towels. Next, I melted about 2 teaspoons of butter in a saute pan and added the morels. I sprinkled them with grey sea salt and sauteed them until they started to brown and soften, about 5 minutes. That's it! I served them on a bed of flowering chives. I hope to get my hands on some more when I go to Berkeley Bowl in a few weeks.