Spring Salad With Mushroom Dirt Food

MUSHROOM ''DIRT''

Steps:

• Place mushroom pieces on the tray of a dehydrator with enough room to allow for generous airflow between pieces. Dehydrate, according to manufacturer's directions, at 135 degrees for 12 hours, occasionally rotating trays from top to bottom.
• Transfer dehydrated mushrooms to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
• Place ground mushrooms, both flours, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and porcini powder in the jar of a blender; blend until a powder is formed, about 2 minutes. Sift mushroom mixture into a medium bowl; set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter with walnut oil over medium heat; whisk to combine. Whisk butter mixture into mushroom mixture; spread on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake for 5 minutes; rotate baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

SPRING PASTA WITH MUSHROOMS, CHILES AND SPRING PEAS

Steps:

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Prepare an ice bath. Blanch the peas in the boiling water until bright green, about 20 seconds. Transfer immediately to the ice bath. Once cool, drain completely.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt until it tastes of lightly salted broth. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, in a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallot and pepperoncini and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the maitake and oyster mushrooms and cook until softened, another 3 to 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine.
• When the pasta is cooked to al dente, add the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms directly from the pot, reserving the pasta water. Allow the pasta to finish cooking in the mushroom sauce, about 1 minute. Add the peas, butter and Fresno chile and stir to coat. Turn off the heat and add the Pecorino Romano in handfuls, stirring in between additions to prevent lumps. Add pasta water to thin the sauce as desired. Finish with the basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM SALAD

Steps:

• Steam the asparagus for three to five minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. It should be tender but still have some bite. Rinse with cold water, and drain for a minute on a kitchen towel. Cut into 1-inch lengths. Place in a salad bowl, and toss with the mushrooms, herbs and arugula.
• Whisk together the lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and olive oil. Toss with the asparagus mixture and the slivered Parmesan, and serve.