Ramps, Anxiety & After-Season Pesto

Well, that was over quickly.

Ramp season, I mean. Though honestly, spring itself barely showed up in New York this year. It felt less like a season and more like an extended winter interrupted occasionally by one perfect afternoon where everyone remembered they owned linen.

Now suddenly it’s summer.

I was talking yesterday to a friend who works at the McCarren Greenmarket, who was lamenting both the end of ramp season and the absolutely unhinged prices people will pay for them. Ramps have become one of those ingredients that arrive trailing social status behind them. The first bunches appear and otherwise rational adults start behaving like traders on the floor of the stock exchange, happily handing over what feels like eighteen dollars for what is, at the end of the day, a spicy leaf.

Which immediately reminded me of this hysterical Jake Cornell TikTok in which a gay father realizes — with mounting panic — that ramp season is ending and his child has not yet eaten ramps. What kind of parents are he and his husband? Foraging for them in Prospect Park isn’t panning out. Should the child even remain in school, or should they immediately take him to a chef’s tasting ramp lunch before the season disappears? If you live in Brooklyn, it feels less like comedy and more like documentary filmmaking.

And to be clear: ramps are lovely. I grabbed some while I could and made this pesto, inspired by a Serious Eats recipe and now I desperately want it year-round. It’s bright, garlicky, rich, and exactly the kind of thing that makes you feel briefly like the sort of person who forages recreationally.

Unfortunately, wanting ramps again after ramp season ends is a little like wanting tickets to a concert that happened yesterday. Which is why the recipe below includes a scallion-and-garlic variation that gets surprisingly close - and is both less anxiety inducing and more affordable.

Anyway: make the pesto. If you have ramps, wonderful. If you don’t, honestly, also wonderful.

Ramp & Basil Pesto

(with an out-of-season workaround - because ramp season lasts about eleven minutes)

Ingredients:

4 ounces ramps

(or 3 ounces scallions plus 1 small garlic clove)

12 ounces fresh basil leaves and tender stems

1/2 cup shelled unsalted roasted pistachios

2 ounces Pecorino Romano, finely grated

Zest of 1/2 large lemon

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

If using ramps, trim the root ends carefully so you keep as much of the white bulb as possible. Separate the white and green parts, then roughly chop the whites and set both aside separately.

If using scallions instead, trim only the bottoms. Peel and roughly chop the garlic clove; set both aside.

Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until finely chopped.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Add the ramp greens — or the scallions, if using the substitute version — to the boiling water and blanch until wilted and bright green, about 20 to 30 seconds. Transfer immediately to the ice bath using a spider or slotted spoon.

Drain well and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Roughly chop, then add to the food processor along with the ramp whites (or the chopped garlic clove, if using scallions) and the Pecorino Romano.

Pulse, scraping down the sides as needed, until a rough paste forms. Add the lemon zest and juice and pulse again until incorporated.

With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is glossy, thick, and spoonable. Season to taste with kosher salt.

Use immediately, or refrigerate or freeze for later — which is especially useful once ramp season disappears overnight, as it always does.