Directions
Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes, adding the peas for the final minute.
Heat the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and add the mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes, or until softened.
Add a splash of the pasta water and the garlic and cook for a minute more.
Add the Parmesan and another splash of pasta water, stirring to emulsify. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta and peas, reserving a little of the cooking water.
Add the pasta and peas to the mushrooms, adding more pasta water if necessary - the pasta should be silky and coated in sauce.
Shave plenty of spring white truffle on top.
Recipe Note
About This Morel and Pea Tagliatelle Recipe
Three of the headline ingredients in this dish, fresh morels, spring peas and spring white truffle (Tuber borchii) or summer truffle, share an unusually short window in the calendar between April and early June. Pulling them together in a single pasta dish is one of the most direct ways to enjoy that overlap, which is partly why this recipe shows up most often in our kitchen at the same time of year.
Any fresh morel mushroom recipe benefits from a creamy, lightly sauced base, and the same is true here: the morels carry an earthy, almost smoky note, the peas bring sweetness and a clean green flavour, and the truffle adds a final wave of garlicky, faintly cheesy aroma over the top. Fresh tagliatelle is the right pasta shape because it carries cream-based sauces and small ingredients well.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this morel and pea tagliatelle on its own as a primo or light main, with a small dressed green salad on the side and a chilled glass of unoaked white Burgundy or a soft Pinot Bianco.
A good truffle recipe like this works best when the truffle is shaved over the dish just before serving, while it's still warm. Outside the season, dried morels and a finishing drizzle of truffle oil make a perfectly respectable substitute. Out of pea season, broad beans work as a swap with a slightly nuttier finish.
