I Changed My Mind
It’s ramp season again and once again I invested in a bunch or two of the gorgeous green harbingers of spring from my friend Edwin in Westbrook. His daughter harvests them and this year switched up her harvesting method to help further ensure the longevity of the precious plants, something I fully endorsed.
Last year I was all about the compound butters, using the ramps. This year I went all in on ramp pesto. I tried it two ways. With the first batch, I quickly blanched the ramps beforehand in boiling hot water, then put them in an ice water bath to keep them from overcooking, a step that is supposed to keep the pesto from turning brown. I used that batch at a get together with friends and gave some of it away. The second time I made the pesto, I was in a rush, and it was just for me, so I just skipped the whole blanch and shock thing.
And, even though, the last time we discussed ramps in this column, about a year ago this month, I recommended the blanching, I have changed my mind. The second batch had a much sharper, more interesting flavor and texture, and the resulting pesto really highlighted the oniony, garlicky, vegetal flavor of ramps. So never mind what I told you last time.
To make the ramp pesto, to the ramps I added a few handfuls of toasted walnuts, probably about a half cup, about a half cup of good Parmesan cheese grated, about a third of a cup of olive oil, and the juice and the zest from lemon. The lemon is an additional from last year’s ramp pesto as well, and it added a delightful note of brightness to the pesto.
I used the pesto in pasta, in soups, on bread with cheese, and, my favorite, slathered on toast in the morning served with two fried eggs, the yolks just barely set, topped with freshly ground pepper, sea salt, and a bit of Aleppo style pepper.
Playing around with my pesto made me think about the rest of our farm market season. At my local farmers market, we’re already seeing some of the spring greens. And the fun thing about pesto is that there are almost endless ways to experiment with different kinds of greens, different kinds of nuts, different kinds of cheese. I think it makes sense to stick with olive oil and I do think the lemon juice in general would be a good addition.
The magazine Saveaur https://www.saveur.com/gallery/Pesto-Varieties/ has a variety of suggestions for different pesto variations, including a garlic scape pesto, a pepita and cilantro pesto that goes well with Mexican food, a pesto Calabrese with red peppers and ricotta, a pistachio pesto, and more. One I plan to try is this very interesting looking Grüne Sosse or German-style green sauce that incorporates buttermilk, sour cream, along with sorrel and watercress. It goes well with vegetables, the recipe says. And I think it would be great on toast with two friend eggs on the side, too.
Grüne Sosse (German-style Green Sauce)
From Saveur
Ingredients:
2 cups packed parsley
1 ½ cups packed watercress
1 cup finely chopped chives
1 cup packed sorrel
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
1⁄2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1⁄2 cup sour cream
1 1⁄2 tsp. walnut oil
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions: Process parsley, watercress, chives, sorrel, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, oil, egg yolk, and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth; season with salt and pepper.