The pizza goon is at it again, baking up creations with his morel mushrooms. He begins his latest blog with the question, ‘what do you do with two large morel mushrooms? ‘ Not that I have ever asked myself that question before, nor heard it muttered…however, if you are searching for something to do with your large morels, look no further!

John notes that he had five-day-old pizza dough lingering in cold fermentation, which would be more than perfect for his recipe.  Couple the aged dough with Fontina cheese and an array of other exotic earthly ingredients for the following “Morel Bombe!”

Ingredients:

 

Two giant morel mushrooms

One tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

One half cup grated Fontina cheese

One golfball size chunk of chevre

One four-ounce chunk of smoked red waddle ham cut into small dice

Five spring ramps chopped

One tablespoon Parmigiano Reggiano

Two crisp chicken skins from two roasted chickens

One teaspoon of caraway seed

Egg wash

Process of Preparation:

First cut the stem off of each morel and rough chop them, Add to a sauté pan on high heat and sauté for one minute. (I just ran them through my conveyor pizza oven at 475 for a few minutes.)

Put the chevre, fontina, ramps, Parmigiano, caraway and diced ham in a bowl and mix until incorporated into a messy little ball of goo. Stuff the morel caps with the mixture and wrap the stuffed caps with the chicken skin.

Form a round pizza shape with the dough. Place the two stuffed, chicken wrapped blobs side-by-side in the middle and add the rest of the cheese mix in front of the stuffed caps. Fold the top of the dough over first, then the bottom. (Note, do not use too much flour as the dough will not stick.) Turn the whole batard over and place on a parchment covered tray and form the ends in a torpedo shape. Using a sharp knife, cut a vent hole in the middle and one small vent on each end to let moisture escape.

Eggwash the batard and let proof, (hold between 70 and 80 degrees F  for at least 15 minutes.) Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes. It will take a lot of care to pull the batard out at the right time. Internal temperature should be above 180 degrees and the outside should have a nice golden-brown color.

Pull the batard from the oven and let rest for 10 to 12 minutes before