Ramp Pesto

When ramp season comes around, I get SO excited. I love ramps in just about everything. If you haven’t heard of ramps before - they are in the allium family (cousins to onions, scallions, and leeks)! Ramp season is VERY short (actually considered a spring delicacy) so if you see them at your local farmers market, grab them, you won’t regret it.

In this pesto recipe, the ramps boost some extra flavor and help make it makes it extra green. *If you want to make pesto and cant find ramps, but also want to make it extra green you can add a handful or two of spinach leaves or de-stemmed kale.

INGREDIENTS:
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted - this releases all those flavors you are looking for
Parmesan cheese, cubed or grated - to taste (about a handful)
1 bunch of ramps, just the green leaves, cut into strips
1 bunch of basil
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Pulse the garlic clove, 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, and parmesan cheese (if cubed, otherwise add it after the greens), in your food processor.

Add the ramp greens, basil, the lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper and pulse until the leaves have broken down a bit. Add 1/4 cup olive oil in a steady stream while blending until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If you feel your pesto is too thick, you can always thin it out with a bit more olive oil.

Pro-tip for storing - cover the top of the pesto with olive oil so it doesn’t brown.

If mixing with pasta - remember that pesto is a “no-cook” sauce, so you want to add your hot pasta to a bowl with pesto in it and then add pasta water as needed to thin it out and make the sauce nice and glossy - you can also do this in your pasta pot, but just make sure it’s off the heat.

Ramp pesto will last in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.