Roasted Ramp Ricotta Pasta
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I keep buying ramps. I keep buying them like I have the faintest clue what to do with them. Sometimes I think I am just buying them for the sake of their seasonality. I know they’re only here for a short time and I mean, everyone else is buying them…
Where’s a mom with her sayings about bridges?
Instagram was telling me that I could just roast them and end it there. Perhaps poach an egg and call it a night. Instagram was also really selling ramp pesto. I wanted to do something else, truth be told I’m not that big on pesto.
Sometimes a new experience, a new adventure, a new place can serve as inspiration.
And sometimes that place is Brooklyn.
Since the weather’s been getting nicer, my boyfriend and I have been really diligent about going to different areas of the city and just ‘splorin on the weekends. We’ve both lived here alotta years but feel like there are whole parts of the city we’ve never seen. Two Saturdays ago we spent the entire afternoon and night walking all over Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Iced coffees were slurped, comfort food was had, ice cream was discovered, a frisbee was tossed, sunset was seen with toes in the grass. We didn’t want the day to end so we wandered around again until we found a cute little restaurant to grab some matching whiskey on the rocks.
Since we were still full from a heavy lunch, we sat at the bar and just sipped on our Jamesons, but I couldn’t help but look at the menu anyway. Just as I was thinking that the next day I really had to come up with a way to use those ramps --- I spotted a ricotta ramp pasta on the specials menu that sounded completely inspiring. Very springy, very simple sounding, very much something I thought I could replicate with some adaptations here and there.
So I figured out what to do with those ramps.
Watch those roasting ramps carefully! My first time roasting ramps I lost the poor things. Burnt to a crisp. RIP. A little char on the ends is a nice contrast but otherwise you just want them to soften and caramelize a bit. Also, can I just say you’re not doing it right if you’re not covered in dirt and leaves when dealing with your ramps. Clean them very well. They have a lot of crevices and those crevices have mud in them.
If you can find fresh peas, bless you -- USE THEM. I made do with some frozen ones.
And by all means, you can use whatever type of pasta you like, I used a gluten-free, “paleo” pasta by Cappello’s.
Last note, you probably won’t use the entire batch of ramp ricotta, but I can assure you I didn’t have a hard time figuring out how to use the rest. I may have spread it on some toast with roasted red peppers and pepitas. I also may have folded it into some meatballs…
Roasted Ramp Ricotta Pasta
inspired by a special at Juliette
Ingredients:
1 bunch ramps, trimmed of ends and cleaned very well
olive oil for roasting
salt and pepper
8 oz ricotta (about 1 ½ cups)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ cup diced bacon
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 box Cappello’s Fettucine (or approximately 8 oz fresh pasta / 4 oz dry pasta)
squeeze of half a lemon
shredded parmesan for sprinkling (if desired)
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a roasting pan, spread ramps out evenly amongst each other. Drizzle well with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes. Begin checking them at around 10 minutes to ensure they do not burn.
While ramps are roasting, begin preparing the other components. Fill a medium sized saucepan with salted water and begin bringing it to a boil for the pasta. In a small bowl fold the majority of the chopped parsley into the ricotta, reserve a bit of the parsley for garnish if desired.
Once the ramps have finished roasting, remove from oven and let sit for a bit until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile begin to render out the bacon in a pan over medium heat. Once bits are close to getting nice and crispy, toss in the peas. Cook the peas until just warmed through and bacon is nice and brown. Remove from heat.
Take the cooled ramps and give them a nice chop. Fold the chopped ramps into the ricotta mixture. Then season it with salt and pepper to taste.
Now that all your components are ready, prepare the pasta. If you’re not using the Cappello’s pasta or a fresh pasta, do your best to accommodate for the cooking time of dry pasta. Cappello’s or fresh pasta only takes about a minute to cook, so I always cook it last.
As soon as pasta is done cooking, reserve a bit of the cooking water, drain the pasta and dump it into a large mixing bowl. Immediately add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the ricotta mix to the pasta. Add the bacon, peas, and some of the bacon fat to the bowl as well. Begin to toss together. I find that using a pair of tongs helps to turn the pasta into the mix gently. If you feel it needs a bit of help becoming saucy add a touch of the reserved cooking water until it’s the desired consistency. A squeeze of lemon at the end helps brighten the whole thing up.
Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and shredded parmesan.
Serves 4
