One of the dishes we made for our Mother’s Day spectacular was purely inspired by the season.  It’s ramps season, and since it’s such a short season, we find it imperative to do something with them during this period.

Raw Whole Ramps

If you haven’t tried ramps, also known as spring onions, they are something like a scallion (or green onion) crossed with garlic.  They are shaped something like scallions, but the leaves are slightly more petal shaped.  The leaves are edible as well and taste a bit closer to leeks, which is appropriate since they’re also known as wild leeks.

Goat Cheese & Ramps Fresh Ravioli
~makes 38-40 ravioli

Ramps, Divided Sliced Ramps

Ingredients

  • 1.5 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 cups Sliced Ramps (about 22), divided
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
  • 7.5 oz Goat Cheese, softened
  • 3 tbsp.  Shredded Parmegiano Reggiano
  • 3.5 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
  • 4 large (or 6 small) Eggs
  • Kosher Salt
  • Black Pepper

Instructions

Sauteed Ramps in Garlic and Oil 1

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan.  Add ramp stems and garlic with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cook about two minutes until ramps start to soften.  Add red pepper and ramp leaves, cook just until leaves wilt. Remove mixture to a bowl and toss to cool.  Reserve.

Unmixed Pasta Dough Rested Pasta Dough 2

2. On the counter, or in a large, shallow bowl, make a pile of 3 cups of sifted flour, with a cavity in the center.  Crack eggs into the center of the flour.   With a fork, whisk eggs, slowly incorporating flour.  Once eggs are no longer visible, use hands to knead dough, removing to counter.  Work dough until it comes together and is just no longer sticky (add flour if necessary).  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.

Ramp & Goat Cheese Filling

4. Add cheeses to ramp mixture and combine well.  Reserve.  Fill a ramekin with water and leave near dough.

Rolled Pasta Dough Square-Cut Pasta Dough
Ravioli Fillings

5. Cut dough into quarters, always keeping unused dough in plastic wrap.  Start with one quarter and roll to about 1/4″ with a rolling pin.  Then switch to a pasta machine and go through until very thin (setting 5 out of 6 on our machine).  Cut into 2×2″ squares.  Into half the squares, place a heaping teaspoon of the cheese & ramps mixture.  Dip your finger into the water (in the ramekin) and run around both the edges of the bottom and top of the ravioli.  Flip the top onto the bottom, then lift into your hands and pinch the edges tightly.  Set onto a wax paper-covered cookie sheet.

Formed Ravioli 1

6. Ravioli may be frozen or boiled immediately.  Boil in well-salted water for a good four minutes.  The dough should be soft.

Plated Ravioli 2

7. Serve with your favorite sauce and garnish with sliced ramp leaves.

Because the filling is so light and summery, I really wanted to serve it with a tomato concasse, however, I didn’t plan out well enough.  Rather, I strained crushed tomatoes through paper towels (I ran out of cheesecloth) for several hours, to collect just the fine juice.

I combined one part strained tomato juice with three parts homemade vegetable broth and served at room temperature.  The result was better than I expected.  It was the perfect accompaniment.  Light, refreshing, and totally summery.

posted by Lon at 02:01 PM Filed under Italian, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.