I’ve been jonesin to make this dish ever since my friend brought me dried morels she actually foraged from Alaska.  I don’t usually think of shrimp and mushrooms being friends but a little bit of white wine and a not so little bit of heavy cream make all ingredients work together.  I’m not usually a heavy cream kind of gal in my pasta but it’s Christmas so I’m letting my hair down.  Morels and shrimp are not exactly the cheapest ingredients so between that and the heavy cream this is definitely special occasion fare.

*  If you have your morels, cremini mushrooms, garlic and rosemary all ready to go this dish comes together in under 30 minutes

**I served this with roasted broccoli and yummy bread…. the broccoli cancels out the cream right?

You’ll need (for four):

• 2.25 ounces of dried morel mushrooms
• 1.25 cups boiling water
• Olive Oil
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (it’s more than you think), divided
• 12 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 0.25 cup dry white wine
• 0.75 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 ounces penne
• 0.25 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

To Make:

1. Place morels in a small bowl, add hot water.  Let soak for 30 minutes.  Lift out morels, squeezing liquid back into bowl.  If any morels are super large, cut in half.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add shrimp, quickly season with salt, pepper and 0.5 tablespoon of rosemary.  Sauté for 3 minutes until just cooked.  Transfer shrimp to bowl.
3. Add another two tablespoons to skillet (without cleaning it) over medium-high heat.  Add morels, crimini mushrooms, garlic and remaining rosemary.  Season with salt/pep.  Sauté for 8 minutes.  Add wine.  Cook one more minute scraping up brown bits.  Add cream and 0.5 cup mushroom soaking liquid (trying not to get the sediment from the bottom).  Boil sauce for about 10 minutes, until thick.
4. In the meantime, cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.  Drain and add pasta to sauce.  Add shrimp and parsley.  Season like you mean it with salt and pepper.  Add more mushroom liquid if you need to thin out the sauce (I didn’t).

Inspired by BonAppetit