Spaghetti with Ramps

Your secret ingredient is…RAMPS.

That was the thought that entered my mind yesterday afternoon. We were deep in heart of Jersey at a venue called Ninety Acres Culinary Center in Far Hills, NJ. Picture a huge estate with endless rolling hills and a beautiful brick cottage at the top of a long, windy hill. That’s where we were when we met Ben and Jared, two prospective partners in our latest business venture. Ben, a devoted foodie, was generous enough to gift us a freshly picked batch of ‘ramps’ from his garden.

I accepted the friendly gesture without having a clue how to actually prepare them! That said, I was totally up for the challenge. I imagined myself on the set of Chopped or Iron Chef, being introduced to a secret ingredient.

After scouring the internet, I decided to incorporate them into one of Mario Batali‘s spaghetti dishes . I’ve been making a lot of pasta lately and loved the idea of introducing ramps into a dish I knew would taste good. As part of the recipe, I separated the ramps into root bulbs and leaves (discarding the stems). I ended up with an herbal root similar to garlic/onion/shallot and a leafy vegetable that resembles spinach in consistency.

The end-result was delicious! In stepping up to the challenge, I educated myself on ramps and successfully incorporated a completely new, seasonal ingredient into a great recipe.

ramps - separated into chopped root and leaves

sautéed with olive oil and red pepper flakes

Recipe

Serving Size (2 people)

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• batch of ramps (around 10 pieces)
• 1/2 box of spaghetti
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
• kosher salt to taste

1. cut root bulbs off of ramps. using your hands, remove the loose layer of skin from the bulbs and wash them
2. cut ramps leaves off of stems, wash/dry them (I used a salad spinner to dry the leaves) and cut them in half (lengthwise)
3. finely dice ramp bulbs (like you would garlic)
4. fill medium pot 2/3 with water and add a tablespoon of salt. cover the pot and bring to a boil
5. once boiling, add pasta and cook for 9-10 minutes until al-dente (test a strand of pasta near the end for doneness)
6. after 5 minutes of cooking, heat olive oil in a separate frying pan (low-medium heat)
7. add diced ram roots to the pan and cook for a few minutes until tender
8. add a teaspoon of salt and red pepper flakes to the pan and stir
9. once pasta is 1 minutes away from completion, add ramp leaves to the frying pan and allow them to wilt
10. once pasta is complete, use tongs to remove pasta from the pot and into the frying pan
11. raise frying pan temperature to medium/high and cook or 2-3 minutes until all ingredients are incorporated
12. mix in breadcrumbs and serve
13. drizzle olive oil over the plated pasta