Alfredo: Forager Style With Erika Rae

As you know, I’m a forest kitten at heart, despite my love for champagne and sparkly things! (Hehe!) As the weather has gotten warmer, I’ve been foraging a lot with my partners and wanted to show the simple Alfredo I made. I added foraged asparagus, pearl and aspen oyster mushrooms! After a long day out exploring Longmont, we had some beautiful finds of asparagus, rose hips, sage, spearmint and mushrooms. So, I decided to incorporate some freshly cut asparagus and oyster mushrooms into our quick little dinner. It was easy to wash them up an add them into my recipe, and I think kittens should always use their natural yummy resources, don’t you agree?! Mew, so here’s how it went…

(Lung and Pearl oyster mushrooms shown)

I scrubbed up all my foraged mushrooms and asparagus and sliced them up thinly before I started cooking. I would recommend using a toothbrush to get wood and debris off. It works best. I let the thinly sliced mushrooms cook up in some truffle oil (you can use olive oil as well or any other oil) and added a chopped garlic clove. After a good 10 minutes, I added chopped up wild asparagus, and some little baby tomatoes I had on hand. After another 10 minutes, I added shredded Parmesan and heavy cream to the mix and let it all simmer together and reach a saucy consistency. I also tore up some left over rotisserie chicken I had from a dinner. Boom!

The result? Creamy, fresh tasting Alfredo with simple and wild ingredients! Altogether, it took me about 25 minutes to prepare this little meal. The oyster mushrooms give a woodsy flavor and the texture is meaty. The asparagus is crisp and adds a fresh flavor that goes very well with the pasta. Definitely an excellent meat substitute if you’re not feeling chicken!

Recipe For Kitten Alfredo:

Foraged (or even your own garden too) Veggies: I used asparagus and mushrooms! Chopped to bite-size consistency.

Heavy Cream/Half-n-Half- 1 1/2 cup

1-2 garlic cloves crushed

Any pasta you prefer cooked

1 tablespoon of oil (olive, avocado, truffle, vegetable)

Salt and Pepper to taste

3/4-1 Cup shredded Parmesan cheese

(If your sauce gets too thick take some milk or a tiny bit of some stock to thin it out.)

Alfredo is simple, tasty, and you can pretty much add whatever you’d like to it! Happy cooking kittens! Xoxo 🖤