Thanks to our dear friend Paula, I was recently able to read an article entitled "Morel Fever" in the Early Spring 2011 edition of County Gardens. The writing was well done. And, the photography by Greg Scheidemann and Marty Baldwin quickly had my mouth watering for morels.
We couldn't resist trying the Morel Frittata recipe that was featured in the article, and I think that it's already become a favorite recipe! It's quick to prepare, lovely to look at, and simply delicious.
We made some changes to the printed recipe (don't we always!) which we think enhance the original recipe and make it a richer presentation. For example, we sauteed 1 cup of chopped onions instead of 1/2 cup, substituted heavy cream for the half-and-half, and served it with a dollop of sour cream. We used 1 ounce of our dried morel mushrooms in place of the printed recipe's 4 ounces of fresh morels.
The cast iron skillet was a perfect cooking vessel.
Morel Frittata
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 ounce dried morels, reconstitued in warm water for 30 minutes
1 small bunch fresh spinach, stems trimmed
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Sour cream
- Whisk the eggs and cream together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat broiler.
- Melt butter in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add morels and their liquid. Continue to cook until onions are translucent, morels are tender and and the liquid has been reduced to a teaspoon or so.
- Add spinach to skillet. Cook and stir about 3 minutes or until spinach has wilted.
- Reduce heat to medium, and pour the eggs into the skillet with the mushroom mixture. Stir to ensure that the mushrooms and spinach are evenly arranged in the pan. As the frittata cooks, lift the cooked edges, allowing the uncooked eggs to flow underneath. Cook until eggs are just set; the center will still be runny.
- Put the skillet under the broiler, about 4 inches from the heat. Cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from oven, slide frittata onto a serving place, and cut into 4-6 pieces.
- Garnish with parsley and sour cream.
We placed a dollop of sour cream on each serving.