Ramps. What to do with them?
It’s ramps season here in upstate New York. The wild allium will be showing up on Mother’s Day menus in our better restaurants on top of spaghetti, as a caramelized garnish, and in general wherever you might see a garlic or shallot accent during other seasons. We acquired some ramps from a forager friend and have been wondering what to do with them.
The challenge is that ramps combine two very different form factors: the bulbs and lower stems are dense while the upper green parts are leafy. Sauté a whole ramp after cleaning and trimming and the bulb will be a chewy mouthful but the leafy part will wilt and become leathery and stringy. You could chop them up and cook separately then combine in a dish, but you might not get credit for using these expensive jewels of the forest as opposed to, say, a bunch of green onions.
Here are some ideas.
Ramps compound butter. Pulse the ramps (tops and bulbs) in a minichop, then combine with softened butter and a splash of lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste, as desired. Shape into logs then freeze and use as needed as a garnish on seafood.
Ramps breads and biscuits. Ramps leaves really come into their own when they are shredded and folded into dough like our No Knead Cheesy Bread.
Ramps sautéed in brown butter. Separate tops and bulbs then chop each coarsely, so you can still tell they’re ramps. Heat some good butter till it becomes brown and nutty smelling, then cook the bulbs slowly till they’re caramelized and add tops at the end and cook briefly. Serve over toast or as a steak garnish. Variation: sauté some wild mushrooms along with the bulbs.
Ramps with spaghetti. Prepare ramps as above, or use olive oil and sauté till just tender. Fold in a good amount of grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, maybe a bit of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and maybe some cracked red pepper and serve over pasta.
Pickled ramps bulbs. Still have ramps after trying all the above? Clean and trim ramps bulbs and pack tightly into a small heatproof jar. Add pickling spices and a bay leaf and pour over a mixture of 100 parts white vinegar:50 parts sugar:4 parts Kosher salt. (In other words, 4% salt or about 1 T per cup of vinegar.) Allow to cool, seal and refrigerate and enjoy over the next few weeks.
This page and this one have some good ramps recipes if you want to explore further.
