Ramp Pesto
By: Susan Palmer
Published: Saturday, April 14, 2012 - 3:29pm

Ingredients




3 bunches ramps, cleaned and bulbs removed
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup Parmigiano or Asiago cheese, grated
3 medium cloves garlic
2 teaspoons lemon zest
juice from one lemon
salt and pepper
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

1 In a food processor, place the ramps, walnuts, cheese, zest, lemon juice and a generous amount of salt and pepper and pulse until combined into a paste. 2 With the processor running, drizzle the oil from the top, starting with 1/3 of a cup.   If the pesto looks thick, at the remaining olive oil, if it is a good consistency stop at 1/3 cup. 3 Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

About

This is a quick, easy and versatile pesto that makes use of Springs most in demand and short lived vegetable - Ramps! 
I chose to leave the ramps raw in my pesto, which makes for a very pungent flavor.  If you’d like to tone it down a bit, blanch the ramps for 30 seconds in boiling water and then immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water.