Ramp Pesto
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Ramps - aka wild leeks or wild garlic - have a few, short weeks to their season. And if you’ve never used them, or even heard of them before, this pesto recipe is a GREAT way to introduce them to your kitchen! Ramps grow wild throughout the northeastern U.S. and into Canada. They CAN be cultivated at home, but in either case, it takes about 7 years to grow them from seeds. For this reason, there’s a bit of a conflict around them. Some folks say when foraging for them, only the green leaves should be removed, this way the plant can grow back and reproduce more quickly. Others say, not necessarily and the bulb is fine to take too. Having never foraged for ramps myself, I don’t necessarily have an opinion…but I’ve got a guy. Dan Lipow of The Foraged Feast here in New Jersey is how I purchased ramps this year. Although I DID just see them in a basket at Whole Foods, so some markets do carry them. You’re best bet is your local farmer’s market. Dan usually sells them with the bulb - so that’s what I’m working with.
Pestos are such an easy dish. Pesto is not necessarily the basil (Genovese) dish we all know and love, rather a process, a WAY of preparing something. Pesto basically means “pulverized” - and you could make it with just about anything. But in this case, we’re using the ramps, along with some pine nuts, and of course, good extra virgin olive oil. You don’t need much else besides some quality pasta (be it homemade or purchased), and good parmesan cheese. Best part? It all goes in the food processor and is done in 90 seconds! So basically, if you can boil water and push a button, you can make this dish! Yay!
I tossed the ramps in raw, but if you want to play around, you could char them on a grill or under the broiler, you could blanch them quickly in boiling water, or sauté them briefly. Ramps, like onions or garlic will vary in how strong their flavor is too. When I tested this recipe, the bunch I had were much more mild than the bunch I purchased for the video. So be prepared to TASTE and adjust as you go! Salt, lemon and olive oil will all alter the flavor so keep playing until you get it just right (for YOU!)! I really enjoyed working with ramps this month, and even saved some of the pesto to use on pizza! And yes, you can freeze the pesto in a airtight container and use it for another time when ramps are out of season! Enjoy the video and check out the recipe below!
Buon Appetito!
Ramp Pesto
Serves 6
1/4 lb. fresh ramps, roots trimmed, washed well
1/4 C. pine nuts
1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
1 lb. pasta
1/4 C. parmesan cheese
1 Tbs. butter
Cut the ramps into thirds and place in the bowl of a food processor.
Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toss gently until they begin to turn golden brown. Remove from heat immediately (be careful not to let them burn!) and transfer to food processor with ramps. Season with a pinch of salt.
Pulse the ramps and pine nuts a few times until chopped. With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil until desired consistency is reached. *If you make the pesto too thick, you can always thin it out with pasta water, but if it’s too thin there’s not much you can do.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Heat the ramp pesto over low heat in a large pan that will fit all of the pasta. When the pasta is cooked, transfer it to the pan with the pesto and toss to coat. Add in about 1/4 cup of the pasta water, the butter and parmesan cheese and continue gently mixing until everything is melted in and the pesto clings to the pasta. Serve hot.