This bold and flavorful pasta dish combines spicy Italian sausage with sautéed vegetables, tossed in a rich, creamy vodka sauce infused with the earthy depth of morel mushrooms. Perfectly paired with linguine or fettuccine, this dish delivers a comforting yet gourmet experience, especially when topped with freshly grated Parmesan.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini

• 1 eggplant

• 1 white onion

• 19 oz(pack of 4) spicy Italian sausage

• 1 16oz pack linguine(what I used) or fettuccine

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• Olive oil

Sauce ingredients:

• 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

• ½ t garlic powder

• 1/2t chili flakes

• Approximately 15 morel mushrooms

• 1 T mushroom water (if using re-hydrated dried morels)

• 3oz vodka

• 6 T heavy whipping cream (I used dairy free soy alternative)

• Salt to taste

• 2 t flour

• 1 T butter

Fresh vs Frozen vs Dried Morels

The most widely preferred (and my own favorite) way of eating morels is when they are freshly picked. But that is not always an option, depending on where you live in the world and the season. I live in an area where I can pick wild morels but when I recreated this recipe for this website, it was the middle of the winter and I did not have any frozen morels. I was able to buy some dried ones from a local guy.

Fresh:

When I make pasta with fresh morels, I like to cut them into large chunks, cook them in butter, then add them to the pasta. This creates lovely large bites of juicy morel.

Frozen:

When using frozen morels in pasta, I dethaw the morels slowly in the fridge, then use same above method. They're good, but not quite as good as fresh ones.

Dried:

I do not like dried morels whole or in large chunks, even after re-hydrated and cooked with butter and garlic. I find the texture is strange and off-putting. Many others share the same sentiment, but there are those who think dried morels are delicious. I would suggest cooking and tasting a whole one and seeing how you like it before deciding which method to use.

When making pasta with dried morels, I like to finely chop them and add them to the sauce so that way the distinct morel flavor is there, but you can’t notice their odd texture. I save the water used to re-hydrate the morels and a bit to the sauce for even more morel flavor. Feel free to save the mushroom water and experiment with it in other recipes to add a kick of umami.

Instructions:

1. If using dried morels, soak them in water the day prior to cooking. 30 minutes to 3 hours before you’re ready to cook, drain morels and store in fridge.

2. Boil salted water for pasta

3. Chop sausage

4. Chop veggies

5. Mince garlic and morels

6. Once water comes to a boil, add pasta

7. In large pan, add olive oil and cook sausage until browned, flip, brown on other side

8. Add all vegetables on top of sausage except for garlic and morels. Add 1 T water, reduce heat, add a lid, cook

9. Once pasta is finished cooking, drain and rinse

10. In saucepan, cook morels and garlic in butter. Then add crushed tomatoes, garlic powder and chili flakes, cook until sauce color darkens, add vodka, let cook down a few minutes. Then stir in heavy whipping cream. Stir in flour to thicken. Add salt to taste

11. Mix pasta, sauce and vegetables, sprinkle with Parmesan if desired

The links below is are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase

I have personally cooked with and recommend these dried morels: https://amzn.to/4jCnzLk

If you want to find them outdoors, please for your own safety, consider this book; How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying https://amzn.to/3EgnSNf

Morel and Sausage Linguine with Vodka Sauce