Creamy Ramp Pesto Pasta Recipe (2024)

Did anyone else have to find out what ramps are?

I live in s. Ca and I never see ramps in the mkt. what can I use as a substitute?

Shortcut: don't separate the stem from the leaves until AFTER you blanch the leaves. Just hold the bulbs and drunk the leaves in the boiling water, hold, and then pull them out after 15 second. The recipe says to only use a quarter of the bulbs but I used all of them. To compensate for the increased flavor of the ramps, I used about one and a half lemons/lemon zest, and a full cup of ricotta. This dish is amazing! Lick the bowl delicious!

Couldn’t find ramps so substituted 3 leeks and 2 garlic cloves instead. Turned out great! Surely a different flavor than with ramps but an easy way to make this a year round recipe.

You can make a batch of the ramp pesto and freeze it in an ice tray, then transfer cubes to a plastic freezer bag. Each cube is about a tablespoon. This is a delicious and lighter pesto, and since ramps are hard to come by, it’s nice to have a supply.

This looks delicious, but why do you cook the pasta one minute less than recommended? Usually recipes that cook the pasta for a shorter time then cook it more in the sauce, but this one does not.

Ramps grow in the Appalachian Mountains also. There are at least 3 separate Ramp Festivals in Western NC and eastern TN at this time of year. The festivals serve sauteed ramps in scrambled eggs and/or fry them with bacon in breakfast potatoes. I make them also with angel hair pasta, savory bread pudding and spread on pizza with morels - which are harvested in the same season.

We have ramps now in Seattle, but really, the season is just a few weeks long. Ramps (wild leeks) are foraged in wooded areas in the mid-west and eastern states. I've heard of people trying to cultivate them, but with little success.

Use guanicale, add chopped pistachios to pesto and on top with parmesan, rigatoni

If you forage ramps, as I do, good advice to take them sparingly each year to ensure there are enough to divide and come back. You don't need a lot for a good pesto. Make a batch, divide among small jars and freeze. When you thaw, add a little olive oil to top and store in the 'fridge. We do ramp pesto pasta without the ricotta, tossed with angel hair pasta and fried thin chicken cutlets plus a green salad. Delicious every time.

Adding ricotta or mascarpone to this otherwise delicious pesto dilutes the wonderful tangy taste of the ramps too much. Ramps are rare and hard to find for most folks. Don’t waste them by adding creamy cheese. The pistachios and the pasta temper the pungency of the ramps. Blanching the ramps is also completely unnecessary.

Holy moley! The sauce is delicious!

Ramps are in season in the Maryland and West Virginia area, probably Pennsylvania too right now. I was taught by my grandmother (who grew up here) that they’re wild leeks but they’re probably really wild garlic. I make pesto, or broil them or pickle them or roast them or sauté them. Wish I could send a picture. They’re delicious. I don’t use them as leeks or garlic substitutes.

For a ramp education, check out the 84th annual Feast of the Rampson in Richwood, West Virginia, April 22, 2023https://www.richwoodchamberofcommerce.org/feast-of-the-ramson#:~:text=FEAST%20OF%20THE%20RAMSON%20Saturday%2C%20April%2022%2C%202023,Community%20Center%20%28formerly%20Armory%20at%20the%20City%20Park%29

I made this pesto without the ricotta. Used some extra spinach I needed to use up and with some pasta water added it was saucy and rich enough as is. We topped with shrimp and red pepper flakes instead of peppercorns. Fabulous.

There is no real substitute for Ramps. They are a wild onion that grows in northern climes. SOOOOo yummy! First thing that appears in late April in our Famer's Market here in Madison, WI. Thanks for the great recipe!

Ramps are called “wild garlic” in the UK. I harvested some leave and stems in a forest in Somerset his spring, so no bulbs. Children and adults loved this pesto. Made some without cheese too for a vegan, and it was still yummy; I just added a bit of olive oil, pasta water, and some nutritional yeast and extra salt. Both versions were quite lemony though, and maybe over shadowed the wild garlic a bit. Will make again next spring!

Ramps are very common in Austria so I was happy to have more recipes on how to use them. I do think though that the taste of the Ricotta kind of overpowered all the other ingredients and I liked the pesto better without it (or at least with less Ricotta). I also blanched all the Ramps and didn't separate them in stems etc. which worked fine.Apart from that, really liked it!

Using this recipe as a roadmap, I bought 7 bunches of ramps. Blanched the leaves leaving the bulbs attached, dried them with dish towels, then chopped off the bulbs and sautéed them in olive oil. Zested 6 lemons and squeezed out the juice. Toasted about 2 cups of pine nuts. Then used the Cuisinart to grate about half a pound of Parmesan cheese, added the bulbs, leaves, lemon zest and the lemon juice. Added all the leaves in batches, added salt, pepper & olive oil to get the right consistency.

This is delicious!!! But... double the sauce recipe. Like others, I too found that I needed to use most of the bulbs and stems. Taste the pesto as you go and adjust... you’ll find a balance of flavor that is nirvana... then ecstasy when you combine it with the ricotta and pasta water. The ground PINK pepper is a key to the dish. Pair with a Pinot Gris... and this become a 3 Michelin star meal in 30 minutes.

I didn’t think I had enough ramps so I added three green scallions with the leaves and the bulb and it came out great.

This was absolutely amazing! Made the sauce to go w homemade pasta and use homemade ricotta and it it a literal dream. Will absolutely be coming back to this whenever I get my hands on some ramps!

A little perplexed with the minute less than al dente too: while it was quite good, pasta a bit tough.