Sautéed Ramps

Last weekend I bought ramps at the farmers market with the intention of pickling it so I could make Sean Brock’s pimento cheese recipe. Of course, life happened and I never got around to it. I found myself staring at a bunch of lifeless, limp ramps sitting sadly in the fridge this evening, and pickling didn’t seem like such an awesome idea anymore. I know a lot of people who throw away vegetables once they’re limp or wilted, but you know what? An aesthetic imperfection is not going to kill you. My go-to solution for cooking limp and wilting produce is to sauté it or bake it. When it comes to ramps, I prefer to sauté them because the time that it takes to cook them is just as long as it takes to eat them.

For dinner tonight, I made sautéed ramps with (leftover) chopped pork belly and a poached egg. This would’ve been the perfect spring meal if I had some Grüner to go with it…

For 2 servings:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
  
• ¼ lb. ramps, trimmed and rinsed
• ¼ to ½ tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
  

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add ramps and season with salt and white pepper. Add a tablespoon of water to skillet. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes until the bulb part is crisp tender. Sauté ramps uncovered for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Let’s ramp it up with these recipes:

• Caramelized Ramp & Ribboned Asparagus Pizza from Reclaiming Provincial
• Ramp Pesto from Tartine & Apron Strings
• Ramp Egg Pizza from The Jewels of NY
• Ramp Pesto Pizza with Razor Clams from Alimentari Mag