After an all day foraging trip to find morels, the last thing I want to do is futz around with dinner. I consider frozen puff pastry a “pantry” staple, so it takes minutes to whip this savory dinner up. You can also use the prepared puff pastry cups that you can find in the freezer aisle of the grocery store on the occasion that you are planning to serve these as hors d’oeuvres.
If you don’t have morels, you can use regular button mushrooms diced up and sweated of all of their moisture in the frying pan. This works very well with dried morels that have been rehydrated, so if your budget can swing it; get some.
The Wild Ramp Dust is seasonally available on our Etsy shop. If you do not have some it is easily substituted with garlic powder.
Garrett brings me wild mushrooms like some get bouquets of flowers. I’ll take the mushrooms, thank you.
For the veganized version, I use OmniPork ground which can be found at some Walmart frozen sections or purchased online. It’s a dead ringer for the real thing when cooked and I’ve had many omnivores eat it with surprised delight. It’s nothing short of magic.
While your pork is browning, toss some asparagus spears in some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and roast them in a hot oven until they’re lightly charred. It’s the perfect spring side dish for this masterpiece.
Pork and Morel Tart
A delicious savory tart that comes together quickly
- Baking Sheet
- saute pan
- Sheet Parchment Paper
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farm (thawed long enough to unfold, about 15 min)
- 8 ounces fresh morels, sliced (or store-bought sliced mushrooms)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 1 Tbsp Big Muddy Orchard Wild Ramp Dust (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp kosher salt)
- 10 ounces ground pork (or OmniPork vegan (ground))
- 3 Tbsp butter (or equivalent vegan buttery stick, divided)
- ½ tsp dried thyme leaves
- 4 ounces cream cheese (or tofu-based vegan cream cheese, such as Tofutti (coconut oil vegan cream cheese does not work in this recipe))
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375°F.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, unfold a sheet of puff pastry and keep in the refrigerator until needed.
In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp butter, onion, the pork or OmniPork cooking until just browned.
Add the remaining butter and all of the mushrooms. Once mushrooms release their liquid, add Big Muddy Orchard's Wild Ramp Dust (or substitution), salt (omit if using the substitute for ramp dust), thyme, and pepper. Continue cooking until all of the liquid is evaporated.
Add the cream cheese, using a spatula to break cheese into smaller chunks while in the pan.
When the cream cheese has completely melted, stir thoroughly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Remove puff pastry from the refrigerator. Spoon the pork and mushroom mixture over the dough, leaving a one-inch border at the edges. Fold the edges over the mushroom mixture.
Bake 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark. The edges of the pastry should be golden brown and the filling should be bubbly.
Serves 4 as a main course; 16 as an appetizer (assuming 1 piece per person)
bigmuddyorchard.com 