RAMP PESTO AND SAVORY RAMP SCONES

 RAMP PARMESAN PESTO 

And 

SAVORY RAMP & CHEESE SCONES

This past weekend, I went SOMEWHERE (Nope, I'm not telling you where), with fields of gold and a forest of magic. By gold, I mean a ground COVERED in ramps; like watch where you step kind of covered. The ramp scarcity we’ve been hearing about was nonexistent in this magical forest. My Dad was completely awe-struck to a level even I couldn’t match, crippled in a bed of bright green blades of glory next to a trickling stream, tears in my eyes.  A bit dramatic? Yeah, I know. So what? The thing is, until now, everything I’ve made with ramps has been carefully calculated as to not use them up too quickly and fully savor each bite. 

With this big of a harvest (I still didn’t dig the bulbs), any invisible boundaries I’d set for myself were blasted to smithereens. So what was the first thing I tried? Pestooooo!! IF I had dug the bulbs, I’d see garlic to be unnecessary; however…since this wasn’t the case, I added a few cloves, which resulted in utter perfection. I mixed some in with my pasta the other night which was good, but you could really add it to anything: eggs, fish, chicken, roasted veggies, the list goes ON AND ONNNN. 

RAMP PESTO: (Double/triple it & share with your friends)

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped ramps
• 1/2 cup walnuts (almonds or pistachios would be good too)
• 1/3 cup olive oil ( you may want to add more later)
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano cheese
• 3 garlic cloves 
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp lemon zest 
• Juice from a whole lemon

1. Wash and cut off the leaves of the ramps.
2. Blanche the ramp leaves in boiling water for about 30 seconds and then immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water using a slotted spoon or tongs. (This makes the pesto BRIGHT green and beautiful)
3. Put the ramps, garlic, and walnuts into a food processor
4. Add most of the cheese (save a sprinkle for serving), lemon zest, lemon juice, and a good dash of salt and pepper.
5. Pouring the olive oil in slowly, process contents until they combine and look, well... pesto-y.
6. Taste for seasoning
7. Store in jelly jars or glass containers or use immediately

 The next morning, I found THIS RECIPE FOR SCALLION AND CHEESE SCONES and substituted chives for RAMPS and made RAMP FETA CREAM CHEESE SCONES! I consider myself a pretty mediocre baker, since I’m a lousy rule-follower. I usually set the oven to…”hmmm that should do it”, roughly measure each ingredient, and bake it for “ahhh that looks about right”. While this mostly works for cooking, baking is, as you know, a very strategic & strict operation. This time, I did everything the recipe instructed and what do you know? They turned out right!

 I STRONGLY SUGGEST ADDING BACON OR HAM! (I wished I had).