Those who have been following along know that I’ve been foraging for ramps this year, with much thanks to a friend who told me where I could find them. We loved the flavor they gave to a plate of carbonara, and the grilled ramps in hollandaise made for a great date night dinner at home!

With this most recent bunch, I made two different items, one from the bulbs & stems, and another from the leaves.

Chez Nous, one of our favorite local restaurants, has been on their usual, annual vacation ever since March 7. In fact, on that very night we went to a wine dinner there, the last dinner before their preplanned annual vacation, and our last out before everything closed down. During this time at home, unable to go on vacation, owners Rachel and Franck have been producing cooking videos for their fans, and one of their recipes was for pickled ramps. Their videos can can be found on their Instagram and Facebook pages, and the recipe for pickled ramps and much more can be found on their blog. Also, now that their vacation is over, you can order take-out, and you can even buy a jar of pickled ramps as part of your order!

I used their recipe, halved, and made one jar of pickled bulbs and stems. I made them as an easy, quick pickle recipe, so I didn’t need to process the jars or anything. After a couple days in the fridge, I had a very happy lunch enjoying the pickled ramps with some toasted homemade rosemary bread, pâté, cheese, and grainy mustard.

With the greens, I decided to make ramp and ricotta ravioli. I devised a recipe to use some of the ramps in the filling, and the rest in the oil and butter sauce. The recipe that follows was dinner for 2 people, as that’s who we are at home right now, although it is not easy to make this small amount of pasta. If you have a source for fresh pasta sheets, by all means use that! However it would also be possible to double the recipe for the filling and make more.

Ramp Green & Ricotta Ravioli

Makes about 24 ravioli

Pasta Dough – or buy fresh pasta sheets:

1 cup flour
1 egg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Make the pasta dough according to your preferred method. I use my standing mixer and allow it to knead for 8-10 minutes. Note that making this small a batch may be difficult depending on the size of your mixer. If so, try using the paddle attachment or turn off the mixer at times and use a spoon or spatula to pull the dough back to the center several times. After kneading, I wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for about an hour.

1 teaspoon olive oil
Leaves from 20-25 ramps, chopped
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more for the pasta water
8 ounces ricotta
⅛ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
¼-½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon infused olive oil, or regular olive oil + lemon juice to taste
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
Grated Parmesan for serving

In a medium-large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the ramp leaves and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Sauté the greens until wilted. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix about half of the sautéed greens with the ricotta, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, pepper, nutmeg, and lemon zest.

Use a pasta roller to roll out the dough in batches. I have a hand-crank Atlas machine and I get the pasta down to the penultimate setting. (I usually crank each piece through several times at setting #1, then twice each at #2-4, and then once at #5.) Dust your workspace with flour before you lay the sheets of pasta down. My sheets of pasta end up about 3-4 inches wide so it works pretty easily.

Place teaspoon-sized dollops of filling down the length of one pasta sheet at about 1½-inch intervals. Fold the pasta sheet over and press to seal on the long edge and between the dollops of filling. Try to work quickly because the pasta will not seal as well if it gets too dry. Cut between the raviolis and trim as needed. Move to a tray lined with floured parchment. Continue until you have used all the filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Right before you drop the ravioli into the water, turn the heat to medium under the remaining ramp leaves. Add the lemon-infused oil (or olive oil and lemon juice) and butter and allow the butter to melt.

Gently drop the ravioli into the water and reduce the heat so that they don’t boil too vigorously. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they are all floating. Move the pasta pot right next to the sauté pan, and using a spider gently transfer the ravioli to the pan with the ramps. Very gently, so as not to break the ravioli, try to get the sauce to mix a bit with the ravioli. Add a couple of tablespoons of pasta water if it needs more moisture. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan.

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Ramps – Part III!