Have you ever had a morel mushroom? How about stuffed morel mushrooms? Like a Phoenix, these delicious and nutritious foraged mushrooms rise from the ashes to provide rich umami flavor that is good so many ways! Perfect as the star of the show, like these stuffed morel mushrooms!

Morels, what is the big deal? I mean, they are just mushrooms… right? Raj has had a bag in the fridge foreverrrrrr. He proudly showed me this bag of dried morels and I didn’t understand why he was so excited. I didn’t know things.

I did know that he would be excited to try out fresh morels when I saw them at the farmers market and I grabbed a 1/2 lb. Then I asked the woman sitting at the table lined with brown bags what would a morel virgin do with these delicacies? She recommended a meat replacement, sauteed with garlic and butter, battered and fried or stuffed. DING DING. Stuffed. Raj always says “life is better with cheese” and I can get behind that philosophy.

With a plan in my head, I grabbed some onions, fresh spinach, and a fig tree (unrelated) and started my walk home. Once home, I started on the stuffing: ricotta, onion, garlic, spinach. These stuffed ‘shrooms would be sooooo delicious. We had roommate dinner and rinsed a few morels and stuffed them, throwing them in the oven. They were delicious, but a little gritty. Because we missed one rather important step. Soaking them.

Of course, once they were stuffed and roasting in the oven, I started to do a little research. I do that more often than I would like to admit. I get inspired by fresh market ingredients and I run with it.

What is a Morel Mushroom, Anyways?

Now we know morels are like a magic phoenix rising from the ashes. They are the most desired mushroom of all the mushrooms. They can’t be farmed: they are wild, free, and now a multi-billion dollar business. Like a wild animal or an exotic fish, they can’t reproduce the growing conditions. That means every delicious morsel of morel has been handpicked and foraged. It’s kind of a big deal to go out foraging.

Morels, or the scientifically named “Morchella” mushrooms, “The part that we eat is the fruiting body of the underground organism called mycelium that has a complex symbiotic relationship with trees” grow in a symbiotic relationship with the forest after trauma. “The stress reaction of the mycelial net is usually brought on by soil disturbance whether it be from fire, excavation, beetle kill, windthrow, cattle, orchards, etc. The sap movement is a good condition for the mycelium to give birth to its babies.” These delicious mushrooms come from a catastrophic forest event. Nature is so cool!!

Once we knew they were rare, hand-picked and really the coolest mushroom around, I wanted to know if they were special nutritionally as well, turns out they are! While the nutrition can vary based on the soil they are found in, morels will generally contain significant amounts of Iron, Copper, Manganese, Phosphorus, Zinc, Vitamin D, Folate, Niacin, Riboflavin and a decent dose of Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Selenium, Thiamine, Vitamins E, and B6.

Finally, I understand what the big deal about morel mushrooms is! This dish is delicious and really easy. But word from experience:

DON’T WAIT TO MAKE MAGIC WITH YOUR MORELS!

It is a sad super sad event when they smell funky and end up in the compost, which happened to us. Thank goodness for that beautiful bag of dried mushrooms!

Watch for another morel mushroom recipe, soon, that is great with fresh or dried morels, just like this one. And don’t wait, get your hands on some morels and make these easy and beautiful stuffed morel mushrooms today!