Scallops with Fava Beans, Dandelion Greens, Ramps, and Pancetta

 This dish hardly requires a recipe, as it consists of little more than the ingredients listed in the title.  That's what I love about spring produce; it is so delicious on its own that gussying it up with any other ingredients usually does more harm than good.  In this case, I've paired seared jumbo sea scallops with blanched fava beans and dandelion greens, ramps, and crispy pancetta that I have sauteed in a bit of olive oil.  A drizzle of sherry vinegar, a few cracks of salt and pepper, and you have spring on a plate.

Scallops with Fava Beans, Dandelion Greens, Ramps, and Pancetta
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fava beans, shelled
• 2 tbsp
• 1/4 lb. piece of pancetta, diced
• 1 bunch of ramps, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 bunch of dandelion greens, cleaned and trimmed
• 8 large sea scallops
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tbsp butter
• Sherry vinegar

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the shelled fava beans to the water and boil for 2 minutes.  Immediately drain the favas and add them to a bowl of ice water to cool.  Once cooled, peel each fava and place the beans in a bowl.
2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the pancetta begins to crisp.  Add the ramps and cook until some of the pieces begin to brown.  Add the dandelion greens and cook until they begin to wilt.  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of Sherry vinegar over the greens. 
3. Meanwhile, as the dandelion pancetta cooks, prepare the scallops.  Pat them dry with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper.  Heat a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the scallops and cook, undisturbed, until they are well-browned on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Flip the scallops and cook on the other side until it is well-browned, another 2 to 3 minutes.  Set the scallops aside on a plate.
4. To plate the dish, divide the ramps and dandelion greens among two plates.  Quickly heat the fava beans in one of the skillets just until they are hot and surround the greens with the beans.  Top the greens with the scallops.  Serve immediately.

Shake Shack's Ramp Dog

I don't count myself among those New Yorkers who are willing to stand in line all afternoon for Shake Shack, but finding myself on the Upper West Side this past Saturday, I could not resist braving the long line outside the restaurant to try the Ramp Dog.  Available for one day only, this hot dog was topped with griddled ramps and applewood smoked bacon butter.  Washed down with a malted chocolate shake, it was worth the wait in line.  Enough said?

Springtime "Carbonara" with Ramps and Asparagus

Spaghetti carbonara is one of those classic pasta recipes that you just don’t mess with. Pasta, eggs, Parmesan cheese, guanciale (or pancetta), salt and pepper: those are the only ingredients that should ever go into a carbonara. Don’t add parsley, don’t add peas, and please, please, please don’t add cream. So accept my sincere apologies for calling this dish a carbonara. I really wanted to avoid doing so; it contains heavy cream and smoked bacon—not to mention asparagus and ramps—but that’s what Andrew Carmellini calls it in Urban Italian, from which this recipe is liberally adapted (I substituted bacon for the speck that Carmellini calls for and asparagus for his sugar snap peas and English peas). I’m going to let Mr. Carmellini get away with calling it a carbonara because it is an excellent recipe; with a creamy sauce that clings to each strand of pasta and crispy pieces of cured beat, it has many of the characteristics that I love about carbonara, while the spring vegetables give the dish a more seasonal touch. Regardless of what you want to call it, it will please any carbonara lover out there.

Springtime “Carbonara” with Asparagus and Ramps
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 egg
• 1 handful of asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ lb. spaghetti
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped into ½-inch pieces
• 1 bunch of ramps, cleaned, roots removed, and cut into thirds
• ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving
• black pepper, freshly ground
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Beat the cream and the egg together in a small bowl until they are well blended. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While waiting for the asparagus to boil, fill a medium bowl with ice water. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook until the asparagus turns bright green, 1 to 2 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to immediately plunge the asparagus in the ice water so that it stops cooking.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for one minute less than the package directions indicate. Meanwhile, continue with the rest of the recipe.
4. Heat a deep-sided skillet or sauté pan over medium-high eat. Add the bacon to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon begins to crisp, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the ramps to the pan and continue to cook until the leaves are wilted and the bulbs begin to brown. Reduce the heat to low, and wait for the pasta to finish cooking, stirring the ramps periodically.
6. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving a ½ cup of the cooking water.
7. Add the asparagus and the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Stir in the pasta, then the cream and egg mixture. There should be just enough liquid in the skillet to coat the pasta, and the sauce should not be watery. If necessary, increase the heat and reduce the sauce to the desired consistency.
8. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the cheese and a generous amount of ground pepper. Taste for salt. Serve the pasta immediately, with a small amount of Pecorino Romano cheese grated over the top.  

Ramp Pesto with Almonds

Ever since my week long bout with pine mouth, I have been hesitant about eating pine nuts. But being that we are in the midst of ramp season, I just had to make a batch of ramp pesto, one of my favorite preparations for the spring vegetable.  While I nearly took the plunge and used the traditional, innocuous-looking but potentially taste-bud-killing pine nuts, in the end I took the safe route and used almonds, my go-to nut when I need to add some crunch to a dish.  I served the pesto alongside roast chicken and sauteed asparagus and Shiitake mushrooms.  The almonds worked perfectly, adding just the right amount of texture to the pungent ramp pesto.  More importantly, I could still taste my dessert. 

Ramp Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of ramp leaves with two ramp bulbs, roots removed 
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp almonds, toasted
• 1/4 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• salt, to taste

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the ramp leaves and bulbs.  Run the food processor and slowly pour in the oil with the motor running.  Continue to process the ramp mixture until it has formed into a smooth paste.  Add the almonds and cheese and pulse until the pesto is well blended (the pesto should not be chunky, but should have some texture from the nuts).  Taste for salt and serve immediately or refrigerate for several days.

Lamb Burger with Goat Cheese, Pickled Ramp Leaves and Aioli

Feeling some self-pity for staying in my prison cell apartment last Saturday night, I decided to cheer myself up with a gussied up lamb burger.  Aside from the ground lamb which I had purchased earlier in the day, I had all of the components to make the fancy burger  that I call comfort food (I swear I'm not a snob): pickled ramps that I made the other day, some goat cheese in the fridge, and a brioche roll in the freezer.  I began with the ramps, cutting off three ramp bulbs and used them in place of garlic in a basic aioli recipe.  I toasted the brioche bun and smeared a generous knife full of the aioli on one side.  Preparing the lamb patty, I inserted a small round of goat cheese into the middle of it, then cooked the burger to medium-rare.  I topped the patty with a small handful of the tangy pickled ramp leaves and wedged everything between the bun.  The onion rings I made to serve alongside the burger were a disaster, but the burger was enough to make me forget their soggy mediocrity. It was absolute perfection, especially when washed down with a couple Sixpoint beers and a few episodes of The Wire.  Not bad work for a Saturday night.

Momofuku's Pickled Ramps

Ramps lend themselves to a variety of different uses.  They carry on unique flavors when grilled, sauteed, blanched, or pureed.  But my favorite thing to do with ramps is to pickle them. Pickled ramps, equally acidic, sweet, and spicy, work well on just about anything.  I tried them as a topping for lamb burgers, but have plenty more left to try alongside cured meats, steaks, and fish.  My recipe for pickled ramps comes from the Momofuku cookbook, and simply put, it's awesome.  I don't know how to describe it better, but the rice wine vinegar is the perfect amount of acidity for the ramps.  It's mid-April, and it's already shaping up to be a great spring. 

Pickled Ramps
Adapted from Momofuku

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs small ramps, roots removed and washed
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Pack the ramps into a quart-size container. 
2. Combine the sugar, salt, vinegar and water in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and pour over the ramps.  Press the ramps down with a spoon to ensure that they are covered by the brine.  Bring the mixture to room temperature, then cover the container and chill the ramps in the refrigerator.  The ramps can be used immediately, but will taste better after a week.  The greens should be eaten within a month, while the bulbs will last for a few months. 

The Joys of Cooking

Normally, I would not write about a recipe I have previously posted on this blog, but sometimes the tried and true is what makes me most appreciative of a home cooked meal. After slaving over complicated recipes, hand washing a countless number of dishes, and spending an inordinate amount of time purchasing food, it can be easy to forget that cooking does not have to be complicated. On the contrary, making a home cooked can be the easiest way to get food to the table, as demonstrated by my recent dinner of rotini with ramps, breadcrumbs, and pecorino cheese. I made this meal after returning home from a recent trip to Florida.

Coming home to a nearly empty refrigerator and being tired from my early morning flight and a long day of work, cooking was the last thing on my mind at the time. However, not wanting to order an unsatisfying delivery meal, I decided that making the always dependable pasta with ramps and breadcrumbs would be the quickest way to get food in my stomach and begin relaxing after my grueling day. So I set a pot of water on the stove, and I began unpacking my suitcase while I let the water come to a boil. By the time I had finished unpacking, the water was boiling, so I added the pasta. With the pasta cooking, I sauteed the breadcrumbs and ramps. Ten minutes later, I was eating my pasta and thinking about how damn wonderful cooking can be.

Ramps, Mushrooms, and Cream over Polenta

I'm still on what will surely be a short-lived vegetarian kick. However, the idea for this dish came more so from a necessity for a quick meal with minimal cleanup than a desire to make a meatless meal. The dish won't blow you away, but it does the trick when you want to make a nice spring meal with minimal effort.

Ramps, Mushrooms, and Cream over Polenta
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
  
• 10 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  
• 1 bunch ramps, cleaned and trimmed, with bulbs separated from leaves
• 1/4 cup (or more) heavy cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat until butter is melted.
2. Add mushrooms and ramp bulbs. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms have given off their liquid and liquid has reduced, about 8 minutes. By this time, mushrooms and ramp bulbs should be slightly browned.
3. Add two big splashes of cream and bring to boil.
4. Add ramp leaves and stir until leaves have wilted, about 1 minute.
5. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve over polenta with parmesan cheese.

Pasta with Ramps, Breadcrumbs, and Pecorino

The spring air makes me forget about protein-centric meals and crave simple meals where seasonal vegetables take the lead role. For this dish, I used fresh whole wheat fettuccine from Knoll Crest Farm, but a thinner pasta like fresh linguine would work best in letting the flavor of the ramps come through. Don't be shy about browning the ramp bulbs; they will not take on the bitter taste of burnt garlic, but rather will become soft and sweet. I was generous with the pecorino and found it to add just enough salt to the dish, but feel free to add a pinch of salt while cooking the ramps.

Pasta with Ramps, Breadcrumbs, and Pecorino
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. fresh linguine
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bunch of ramps, cleaned, leaves separated from bulbs and leaves julienned
• 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs, toasted
• Gated pecorino romano cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add ramp bulbs and cook, stirring occasionally, until very brown and blistered, about 5 min.
3. Add ramp leaves and breadcrumbs and stir until wilted about 1 min.
4. Drain pasta and toss with ramp mixture. Serve pasta on plates topped with grated cheese.

Fried Soft-Shell Crabs with Ramps and Asparagus

I was inspired to make this dinner after reading this interview of Michael Anthony, chef of Gramercy Tavern. He says that his last meal would consist of soft shell crabs and ramps. I decided to up Chef Anthony a notch by including some roasted asparagus on the plate. You can't get much more seasonal than this dish, and I was somewhat annoyed by it's success, knowing that it would likely be next year before I have a chance to make it again.

This marked the first time I have ever cooked soft-shell crabs, and I was impressed with how easy they were to make and how well they turned out. Don't be intimidated by the thought of throwing live crabs into hot oil. My technique was from David Pasternack's The Young Man & The Sea. While heating up a large skillet filled with about a half cup of olive oil, I mixed together Wondra flour, corn starch and salt and pepper, and set aside another small bowl filled with milk. I dipped the crabs in the milk, then in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess. The crabs then went into the skillet, about 3 minutes per side. After a sprinkling of sea salt, they were ready to eat.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Ramp Pesto

This could hardly be called a New York-based food blog I didn't feature at least one recipe with ramps. Ramps are wild leeks that have a very short growing season and are all the rage in the East Coast culinary world at the beginning of spring. The bulbs and stems are as pungent and garlic, while the leaves have a grassy flavor. This combination makes ramps versatile ingredients, able to brighten dishes ranging from pasta to eggs.


I used my first ramps of the season to make a ramp pesto, which I served with ricotta gnocchi I had made from the A16: Food+Wine cookbook. This was my first ever attempt at pasta, and I was pleased with the result. While not nearly as light and fluffy as great gnocchi can be (mostly due to my lack of a stand mixer and the addition of too much flour), the flavor was very nice. More importantly, the gnocchi held together when I boiled them, making them a success in my book.

Although I cooked the ramp bulbs and stems prior to processing them for the pesto, it was still incredibly pungent and peppery. The flavors overwhelmed the gnocchi, so I would recommend just pairing it with a simple dried pasta such as rigatoni. I would think the pesto would also be great with any roasted or grilled meat. Just be sure to brush your teeth thoroughly after trying this pesto, as your breath will be potent.


Ramp Pesto

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 bunches of ramps, washed and thoroughly dried
  
• 1 tbsp plus 3/4 to 1 cup of olive oil
• Salt, to taste
• 2 tbsp walnuts
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Separate the ramp stems and bulbs from the leaves. Chop the stems and bulbs into small pieces. Set aside and reserve the leaves.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped ramp stems and bulbs and cook, stirring occassionally, for about 5 minutes (do not brown).
3. Add the ramp leaves, bulbs and stems, salt, walnuts, and 1/2 cup of oil to the bowl of a food processor. Process until a paste is formed, then drizzle in the rest of the olive oil while continuing to process the mixture. Continue to add more oil until pesto reaches a desired consistency. Taste for salt.
4. Fold in the parmesan cheese and serve.