Stuffed Morels with Beef, Leek and Cream

Ingredients

• 50 large morels
• 500 g beef brisket, minced once (coarse)
• 200 ml cream
• 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large red onion, sliced into half-moons
• 6 stalks slender leeks, finely chopped
• 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 heaped tbsp butter

Equipment

Plenty of salted water for washing the morels, bowls in several sizes, paper towels, chopping board, knife, piping bag, a wide jug, scissors, an ovenproof pan, oven, kitchen towel, spoon

Method

1. Trim the morel stems, leaving about 1 cm at the base.
2. Soak the morels in salted water for 30 minutes to get rid of dust, soil and any insects hiding inside. Every now and then, gently dip them in and out of the water so the grit doesn’t settle back on them.
3. Lift them onto paper towels and let them drain.
4. Sauté the garlic, onion and leek in a pan with 4 tbsp of olive oil, stirring now and then. Towards the end, add 1½ tsp of salt; once everything turns translucent, take it off the heat and let it cool.
5. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190 °C, no fan.
6. In a bowl, mix the beef, cream, the cooled vegetables, the remaining 1½ tsp of salt and the pepper until you have a smooth paste. Stand the piping bag in a wide jug and spoon the filling into it.
7. Snip the tip of the bag and fill the morels. Arrange them in an ovenproof pan with the remaining 4 tbsp of olive oil.
8. The quantities are balanced, but if you run out of morels first, use the leftover filling for stuffed peppers. If the filling runs out first, finely chop the remaining morels and scatter them into the pan for flavor.
9. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes at 190 °C, no fan.
10. Take the pan out with a kitchen towel and move the morels to a serving plate. Put the butter in the hot pan and scrape up the juices and anything stuck to the bottom, stirring constantly. When the butter and the cooking juices come together into a sauce, pour it over the morels.