It’s ramp season!! If you’re one of the lucky few who has stumbled upon wild ramps at your local farmer’s market, grab as many as you can. Yes, they’re pricy, but given they’re unique flavor profile, delicate nature, and hard-to-come-by reputation, you’ll want to pick them up before they disappear. Our favorite way to serve them? Homemade Ramp Pesto!
It’s everything you love about a traditional pesto recipe, but with an intense garlicky and spring onion flavor. We love the nutty contrast of pairing ramps (also called wild leeks) with Pecorino Romano (though, yes, you can use Parmesan) and walnuts. They help to mellow out the intensity of the raw ramps. Add fresh basil and lemon zest to help brighten and round out the flavors.
You can serve ramp pesto with pasta, meats, and veggies — really anything that you’d pair a traditional pesto with! And the best part? Ramp pesto is freezer-friendly, meaning you can make a big batch, then savor it the entire year long. If you love pesto sauce, definitely add this ramp pesto to your must try list!
Check out all of our easy pesto recipes, and be sure to try these varieties next: Arugula Pesto, Pistachio Pesto, Walnut Pesto, or Garlic Scape Pesto!
Ingredients For Ramp Pesto
What are ramps anyway? Fresh ramps, also referred to as wild leeks, are a highly coveted vegetable that is part of the allium family. They’re similar to shallots (allium stipitatum) and leeks (allium porrum) — and have a fresh spring onion flavor that is incredibly garlicky. Check out our post here for more details, including why they are so expensive and hard to come by! (Spoiler: ramp season is a mere 3 weeks each year, so grab them while you can!)
- Fresh ramps, just the leafy green tops
- Fresh basil leaves
- Pecorino romano (can substitute with Parmigiano Reggiano)
- Walnuts
- Lemon zest
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
Use the remaining stems and bulbs from the ramps to make pickled ramps!
How To Make Ramp Pesto
- Grate the cheese. If buying a wedge of cheese and grating fresh, either grate by hand or place chunks of Pecorino into a food processor fitted with blade attachment. Pulse until very fine.
- Clean and trim the ramps. Wash the ramps very well to remove any dirt. Trim the root ends off each bulb and discard, then cut just below the leafy greens. Reserve stems and bulbs for another recipe, such as pickled ramps. Meanwhile, chop the ramp leaves into pieces about 2″ long.
- Pulse ingredients. Place remaining ingredients (except for olive oil) in the food processor along with the cheese. Pulse until very finely chopped.
- Blend in olive oil. With machine on, slowly drizzle in olive oil, using ½ cup to begin, until smooth and emulsified. If pesto is too chunky, add remaining olive oil. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in refrigerator until needed.
Our Favorite Ways To Use Ramp Pesto
Pasta is an obvious and delicious way to use any pesto!
Other ideas for using ramp pesto:
- Serve over grilled proteins (steak, chicken, fish, pork)
- Mix into eggs or creamy corn grits / polenta
- Use it as a sandwich spread (omg how delicious would this be on our favorite California club sandwich?!)
- Make it the base for homemade pizza, like our Burrata Pizza
- Marinate meats in it before cooking
- Add it to homemade salad dressings
Endless possibilities, but our favorite is forever and always this weeknight pasta with chicken and pesto! (Yes, you can make this pasta recipe with any type of pesto, whether traditional basil pesto, arugula pesto, or even sun dried tomato pesto!)
How To Freeze Pesto
Ramp pesto will keep for up to 1 week in a refrigerator or up to 3 months in a freezer. Tip: freeze extra pesto in ice cube trays or Souper Cubes, then add to sauces or pastas in single portions as needed! So easy, and helps to extend ramp season by stocking up the freezer stash!
Ramp season just began, so if you’re reading this and have access to a farmer’s market, run, don’t walk! There’s about 2 weeks left in the year, but that’s juuuust enough time to get your ramp pesto fix, and we know you’re going to love its intense garlic flavor. Seriously, nothing screams spring quite like ramps.
If you make our Ramp Pesto recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below! And shout out your favorite way to serve it. Dying to know how you feature it at home!
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Check out our other pesto recipes:
- Arugula pesto
- Breakfast polenta with pesto
- Chicken pesto pasta
- Braided pesto bread
- Garlic Scape Pesto
- Walnut Pesto
Ramp Pesto (with fresh spring ramps)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ramps leafy stems only (see below for how to use stems and bulbs), about 2 loosely packed cups worth of leaves
- 1 cup basil leaves
- ½ cup Pecorino romano grated
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- Pinch of freshly grated black pepper
- ½ – ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Grate the cheese. If buying a wedge of cheese and grating fresh, either grate by hand or place chunks of Pecorino into a food processor fitted with blade attachment. Pulse until very fine.
- Clean and trim the ramps. Wash the ramps very well to remove any dirt. Trim the root ends off each bulb and discard, then cut just below the leafy greens. Reserve stems and bulbs for another recipe, such as pickled ramps. Meanwhile, chop the ramp leaves into pieces about 2" long.
- Pulse ingredients. Place remaining ingredients (except for olive oil) in the food processor along with the cheese. Pulse until very finely chopped.
- Blend in olive oil. With machine on, slowly drizzle in olive oil, using ½ cup to begin, until smooth and emulsified. If pesto is too chunky, add remaining olive oil. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in refrigerator until needed.
Notes
- Pickled ramps: the best way to preserve and enjoy the stems and bulbs of fresh ramps!
- Ramp pesto will keep for up to 1 week in a refrigerator or up to 3 months in a freezer. Tip: freeze extra pesto in ice cube trays, then add to sauces or pastas in single portions as needed!
- Variations for walnuts: pine nuts, pistachios, pecans, or almonds
- Can replace Pecorino Romano with grated Parmesan cheese.
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