Spring Pasta with Wild Turkey Tenderloins and Morels
Combine your wild turkey tenderloins with freshly foraged morel mushrooms for a bright springtime pasta
Spring is my second favorite season. It might have been my first if it included dog work, but what it does include makes it a close second: wild turkey and morels. Both are used here to create this very brightly-toned spring pasta.
A quick note on morels: if you haven’t had them before, you want to clean and cook thoroughly. Undercooked morels will make you sick; err on the side of overcooking. Also, you may want to try a teaspoon and wait 24 hours before consuming the rest, as a small percentage of people are allergic to morels, even if cooked properly.
For the wild turkey cut, I recommend using the tenderloin. On mature gobblers, those tenderloins can be the size of pheasant breasts or slightly larger. To find out how to find the tenderloin, check out this upland bird butchering guide. Already gobbled down the tenderloins? You can use another cut of the breast—just cut off about 5 to 6 ounces, butterfly if necessary to try and reach the size of a tenderloin, then use a meat mallet to tenderize that cut.
Lastly, to a certain extent, there is a bit of juggling going on here with your stove. Keep that in mind as your prepare and cook this meal. Reach out to me on Instagram (@WildGameJack) with any questions or comments.
