Ramps Recipe Demo

Extremely seasonal & the perfect foodie detail. Recipe by Chef Richard Ruben, "The Farmer's Market Cookbook"

Ramps are from the onion family, so they have a gentle garlicky-onion flavor. They can be used in place of leeks or scallions when they’re in season and they are beautiful plants! 

Ingredients: 
24 ramps
½ cup champagne vinegar
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil*

*I recommend only 3 tablespoons of olive oil - 1 tablespoon for cooking & 2 tablespoons to whisk into a drizzling sauce. 

To get started, we’ll clean the ramps by washing the whole plant, paying special attention to the area where the leaves split. Dirt will get caught up in there. Then cut off the roots. Before cooking them, dry off the ramps as much as you can. The drops of water will cause the oil in the pan to pop out and burn you. So pat them down thoroughly. 

Now let’s cook ‘em! Heat a 12-inch or 4 qt saute pan to very hot and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Place the ramps in the pan in a single layer and saute to lightly colored, about 4-5 minutes. See the video for an example of “lightly colored.” Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the champagne vinegar and water, and cook for 10 more minutes. 

Transfer the ramps to a platter. In the saute pan, whisk in dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in some olive oil. The recipe calls for half a cup of olive oil, which is a lot. You’re just drizzling this sauce over the ramps, so you really don’t need more than a couple tablespoons. So I recommend whisking together only a couple tablespoons of sauce with a couple tablespoons of oil, for the sake of not wasting oil on the sauce you won’t use. Definitely don’t skip the oil. It tempers the bite of the vinegar and the mustard. Now drizzle this sauce over the ramps and serve either hot or room temperature. 

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