Gluten-Free Fettuccine With Broccoli Rabe and Ramps...

This was the final dish I made with the last of my bounty of ramps. I really hadn’t wanted to use them in another pasta dish, but my husband loves pasta and seeing as how I had a huge bunch of broccoli rabe and a large quantity of ramps that needed to get used, on a day that I didn’t have a lot of time I figured this would have to do. Though it wasn’t how I originally intended to end my love-affair with ramps it was nonetheless delicious! Everything about ramps is delicious, and if you love pasta as much as my husband does you will surely love this dish.

It has a unique blend of flavor thanks to the sour lemon, the tart tomato, the delicate ramp and the slightly bitter broccoli rabe. I’d never actually eaten broccoli rabe before though I’d seen it a million times. I only had it because I’d picked it up on a whim when I saw it on sale and I thought ‘why not?’ I was surprised at how much I liked it. Perhaps not as much as Broccolini (my absolute favorite) or regular broccoli, but enough to know that I’ll be buying many more bunches over the coming months so I can experiment with it. What I like most about this dish is that it comes together fast, and is super simply yet has an air of sophistication about it. You’re not just sitting down to another plate of spaghetti you’re sitting down to a meal! And while I’ve listed the breadcrumbs as being optional I highly suggest you use them, they add that little extra something that everyone needs in their pasta.

Gluten-Free Fettuccine With Broccoli Rabe and Ramps 

1 lb Gluten-Free Fettuccine (or your favorite gluten-free pasta)
10 Cloves Garlic Minced
2 Bunches Ramps trimmed, green and white parts (about 20)
4-5 Tbsp Non-dairy butter
1/4-1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Large bunch Broccoli Rabe
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
3/4-1 C dry white wine
3-4 Tbsp Lemon Juice + 1 Tbsp
1 Bunch Parsley Minced
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Italian Style Gluten Free breadcrumbs (optional)***

- Cook Pasta according to package directions

- Trim the stems from the broccoli Rabe and cut it into roughly 1 inch pieces.

- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the broccoli rabe and boil for 3-5 minutes until rabe is bright green and stems are tender. Remove rabe with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Reserve the pot of boiling water to cook the pasta.

- Melt the non-dairy butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ramps, and the red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant and ramps begin to soften. About five minutes.

- Strain the canned tomatoes through a mesh sieve over a bowl. Gently pour the liquid from the drained tomatoes into the pan with the non-dairy butter, garlic and ramps. Stirring slowly and constantly until fully combined. About 1-2 minutes of stirring should be sufficient.

- Add in the reserved tomatoes, ½ C of White wine, and lemon juice. Stir the ingredients until fully incorporated - about 1-2 minutes - and then bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture has reduced slightly. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

- Add the Broccoli Rabe to the Sauce and cook until heated through.

- When Pasta has finished cooking, drain and return to the pot. Pour over the remaining 1/4-1/2C of the White Wine, the extra tbsp of lemon juice and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Give the pasta a good stir to incorporate.

- Pour the Sauce over the pasta, and add in the minced parsley. Stir to evenly distribute sauce over the pasta.

- Arrange pasta into bowls or on plates and garnish with a little extra parsley, some fresh cracked pepper and a good sprinkling of Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs.

*** Note - If you can’t find Gluten-Free breadcrumbs it’s easy to make your own by pulsing your favorite gluten-free bread into fine crumbs in your food processor. If you can only find plain gluten-free breadcrumbs it’s easy to make them Italian style. Just stir in dried Oregano, Basil, Rosemary and Thyme to taste, and voila! This dish can also be made soy-free if using a soy-free non-dairy butter*** 

Wild Ramp Pesto...

So, the other day I mentioned that one of the things I did with my bounty of ramps was make a pesto. It may not have been the most original idea out there, but since I’d never used ramps in that way before and since I’m a big lover of pesto I thought why not? Sounded like the perfect dish to me.

Initially I wasn’t sure if I should leave the ramps raw or cook them first. Amongst ramp pesto lovers there seems to be quite the divide. Some prefer raw, some prefer cooked. After tasting one ramp raw, I decided to go the ‘mostly’ cooked route. Ramps are very pungent, and while a few raw ones here and there probably taste great, I thought it would be a bit too over powering to have them all raw. So I decided to blanch 18 and leave 2 raw and honestly I think it worked out great. 2 raw ramps were enough to give the pesto that oomph without giving it any ugh factor. At least in my opinion, but if you like a little more pungency feel free to use more then 2 raw ramps. Use them however best suits your taste, but definitely use them, and definitely use them to make pesto, because this is without a doubt one of the best pesto’s I’ve ever eaten! And I’ve eaten a lot of pesto in my time.

Wild Ramp Pesto 

20 Ramps - 18 Blanched, 2 Raw
2 Garlic Cloves
2/3 C Walnuts
2/3-3/4 C Olive Oil
Dash of ground Thyme
Sea salt and Black Pepper to taste
½ Tbsp Dried Oregano
2-4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
½ bunch Parsley

- Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Trim the roots off the ramps and when the water is boiling add the 18 whole ramps into the water. Boil for 1-2 minutes until ramps are soft. Immediately drain, and then plunge into a bowl if ice water to stop them from cooking.

- Place the walnuts in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs.

- Add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and raw ramps to the processor, pulse until combined.

- Add the blanched ramps to the food processor along with the thyme, sea salt, black pepper, oregano and parsley. Pulse until creamy and smooth. Taste for flavor and adjust seasoning as needed.

- Enjoy over your favorite pasta. I used Gluten-Free Rice Spaghetti, and it tasted fabulous. It’s also great garnished with a handful of halved cherry or grape tomatoes!

Ramps and Bacon Buttermilk Biscuits...

After I first discovered ramps I went a little ramp crazy, I wanted to use them in every possible way before their season came to an end. Unfortunately beyond a few obvious uses I wasn’t quite sure how to use them in a way that truly showcased them. No point using them in a recipe simply to replace onions, I thought, if I was going to use them I wanted them to steal the show!  During the course of my ‘ramp-age’ I searched the web in desperation for any interesting recipes. I very quickly came to the realization that few people out there had any better ideas than myself. None anyway that I found particularly inspiring or creative. I’d already made a ramp pesto (recipe to come) and aside from pickling them or simply grilling, sauteing, or broiling them to serve as a garnish to some kind of charred meat there didn’t seem to be much experimentation going on.  How strange I thought, since Ramps are apparently the new ‘foodie’ thing (Don’t get me started, on that ‘sub-group’) that nobody could come up with anything more innovative then serving this delicious member of the onion family as a garnish!

There was one bright spot that kept appearing throughout my search however. Every once and a while I’d see a recipe pop up for Buttermilk Ramp biscuits. The recipes were all virtually the same though apparently authored by other people, and all used an un-godly amount of butter, some form of pig flesh - either bacon, ham, or something known as smoked pork jowl. Can you say ew with me? - heaping cupfuls of cow’s milk, and eggs. Not at all a vegan friendly item, but nevertheless the idea piqued my interest. After all vegans love biscuits as much as anyone else, so why should we miss out? and while I don’t eat biscuits often - nor do I seem to have that ‘head over heels’ love for them that some do - I too can’t help but fall to the tantalizing lure of a good biscuit from time to time.

So for a few days I mulled over the idea. Trying to figure out how to best go about my biscuit making. The first and hardest step was trying to decide what to do in place of the pig flesh. I briefly considered using store-bought tempeh bacon, but quickly through that idea to the wayside in favor of the quicker process of making my own bacon style bits, and now you see where yesterday’s recipe comes in to play. After that the rest came together quite naturally. Making a biscuit after all isn’t exactly difficult, though it can be time consuming, - and if you cook anything like me, - messy!

Originally I’d envisioned a flakier sort of biscuit, however these came out a bit denser then I’d planned. During the creation process I either used too much flour or over-mixed. Biscuits may not be a difficult task, but flakey biscuits it seems come down to an exact science. No matter though, because flakey or not these biscuits are fantastic. Their flavor is full bodied and the ramps infuse each bite with oniony goodness. The veggie bacon bites give the biscuits a little bit of sweet, and the whipped ramp butter soaks into the biscuits making everything rampy, buttery, and moist. You couldn’t ask for a better, heartier and more filling breakfast. My husband gobbled up six of these biscuits in one sitting! Oh and if you find this recipe makes more biscuits then you can eat before they spoil pop them in a zip-lock bag or air-tight container and freeze for a quick and easy breakfast another day. They reheat perfectly and taste just as good with regular old Earth Balance, or even better with Earth Balance Coconut Spread!

Ramps and Bacon Buttermilk Biscuits

4 C + 2 C All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
½ C Vegetable Shortening (I like Earth Balance)
1-2 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 ½ -3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Heaping Cup minced Ramps (bulbs, stalks, and greens)
1/2 Heaping Cup Veggie Bacon Bites plus more to serve

*** Note - Start off using 4 C flour and 1 C almond milk with 1 ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice. Increase flour, and milk/lemon juice mixture as needed until you reach desired consistency. You may not need the full 6 cups of flour or the full 2 cups of almond milk. ***

- Preheat oven to 425'F

- Sift 4 cups of the flour along with the baking soda, powder and salt into a large bowl. In separate smaller bowl use a knife to slice the shortening into small cubes. Place both the bowl with the flour and the bowl with the shortening in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill.

- Combine Almond Milk with Lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes, until curdled. Once curdled return the milk to the fridge to chill until needed.

- Meanwhile prepare your ramps. Slice off root tips, clean and then mince. Spray a little non-stick spray into a small pan, and heat over medium heat. Add the ramps and saute until soft and fragrant. About 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

- Once everything is chilled remove from the freezer. Add the flour to a food processor, then add the cut up shortening and pulse to combine. After a few pulses the mixture should look course and pebbly.

- Add the almond milk mixture (1 C Almond Milk + 1 ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice) and pulse to combine. If the dough is too stiff add in more milk/lemon juice mixture. If the dough is too wet add in more flour by the ½ cup. You don’t want the dough to be too stiff or too wet, it should be a little sticky, not so sticky that it gets all over your hands and can’t form a ball, just sticky enough. As stated in the note add flour and milk/lemon juice mixture until you’ve reached the desired consistency. You may not need the entire quantity of either ingredient. When adding in ingredients use the pulse feature on your processor in short bursts don’t continually run the machine or you’ll overwork the dough.

- When the dough is the consistency you like add in the sauteed ramps, and the ½ C of veggie bacon bites. Pulse a few more times until just incorporated.

- Once the dough has been mixed, flour a clean counter top or other work surface. Plop your dough out of the processor and flour both your hands and a rolling pin.

- Roll the dough out to roughly 3/4 inch or desired thickness and using a biscuit cutter or clean glass or can to cut out your biscuits. When you have cut as many biscuits out as you can fit, remove them to a lightly greased cookie sheet.

- Scrunch the remaining dough back into a ball, and re-roll to desired thickness. Cut out as many biscuits as you can, then transfer them to the cookie sheet. Use a second cookie sheet if needed. Continue to repeat this process until you have used all your dough.

- Pop the biscuits In the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Alternately you can brush the tops of the biscuits with non-dairy butter or ramp butter (recipe follows) before popping them into the oven. Enjoy these biscuits spread with a generous dollop of ramp butter and a generous sprinkle of veggie bacon bites.

Ramp Butter 

½ C non-dairy Butter at room temperature
4-5 Ramps minced (bulb, stalk and greens)
Dash of White Pepper
Dash of Garlic Powder

- Spray some non-stick spray into a pan and heat over medium. Add minced ramps and saute for 5-8 minutes until soft and fragrant.

- Transfer to the bowl holding the ½ C of non-dairy butter. Whip together and add the white pepper and garlic powder to taste.

I personally prefer my butter to be of a more melted consistency. However if you like it a little firmer, and whipped, let the ramps cool to room temperature before adding to the non-dairy butter. Once cooled whipped the ramps and non-dairy butter together with the white pepper and garlic powder to taste. Enjoy spread over piping hot biscuits, English muffins, bagels or even toast!

The Ultimate Spring Onion Phyllo Tart

When I first thought about what I wanted to make and then eat for Earth Day, onions were the first thing to come to mind. I had just discovered - and fallen in love with - ramps, I had leeks and green onions handy, and I’ve always been an onion fanatic. A tart using spring onions would be the perfect main course. The only problem was that I’d never cooked a tart before. I made a French Onion Pie once but that’s not exactly the same. So I searched the internet looking for a good onion tart recipe, and you know what I found? A whole lot of nothing, or at least nothing good. None of the onion tart recipes I found were vegan for one thing, the only vegan recipes I could find that came even close were for vegan French onion pie which I absolutely did not want to make. The vegetarian recipes were all very heavy on egg and cheese, and the non-vegetarian recipes were heavy on eggs, cream, cheese and meat. All of those things I might have been able to remedy however, but the problem was that almost none of the recipes used more then 1 kind of onion! Only one kind of onion? What kind of tart was that? Where was the creativity? Where was the onion love?

No, no, no... they wouldn’t do at all. I wanted to showcase a variety of onions in my tart, particularly fresh spring type onions. I wanted a ton of onion flavor, pure and simple. I didn’t want my tart stuffed with mushrooms and veggie meats, and heaping cupfuls of non-dairy cheeses. I didn’t want it full of breadcrumbs and other such nonsense. I just wanted onions. I didn’t think that was asking too much, but by the looks of the recipes I found it was. Sometimes despite all the cook books I own, and the wealth or recipes available I just feel like there’s a lack of creativity out there. Like everyone gets stuck in the same culinary vacuum. Not that there aren’t creative people out there, because there are, I read lots of awesome vegan blogs written by the most inspirational and talented people, but it’s like that old saying. Sometimes if you want something to get done and get done right you just have to do it yourself.

So I had to put on my thinking cap and figure out how to work out this tart. It didn’t take a lot of time to come up with a recipe and I’m so, so happy I was able to put this together because this Onion tart is simply incredible! I’m telling you, it’s a plate of absolutely mouth-watering, mind-blowing awesomeness. Really, I am going to be making this again and again! Really, It's got five kinds of onions, plus garlic!  If that isn't Ultimate I don't know what is. It was also rich, creamy, buttery and full of good old onion flavor. However, despite the massive amount of onions in this dish the onion flavor wasn’t overpowering at all. It was perfect, and just a tad sweet thanks to caramelized onions.  However if you prefer a little more sweetness you can add in the optional sugar I’ve listed, I don’t think it’s necessary but decide for yourself.

This turned out to be the perfect main course for my Earth Day dinner. Everything about it was amazing. For me the dish really embodied spring, so I hope you make it and enjoy it too. Oh, and FYI - It tastes even better reheated the next day!

The Ultimate Spring Onion Phyllo Tart 

2 Large Shallots
10 Garlic Cloves minced
3 Knob Onions sliced (White and Green parts)
1 Large Leek sliced (White and Green parts)
12 Ramps (Bulbs and Leaves)
1/3 C Sliced Green Onions
2 Tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter
3/4 tsp ground Thyme
3/4 tsp dried Sage
3/3 tsp dried Summer Savory
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp White Pepper
Sea Salt to taste
½-1 Tbsp Sugar (Optional)

1/4 C Non-dairy Sour Cream
8oz non-dairy Cream Cheese
3 tsp White Miso

1/4-1/2 C Melted Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter
Sliced Green Onions to Garnish
Black Sesame Seeds to Garnish
10oz Phyllo Dough

- Preheat oven to 375'F

- Heat 1 Tbsp of non-dairy butter in a pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, shallots, and white parts of knob onions until caramelized. About10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

- Heat remaining 1 Tbsp of non-dairy butter in pan, and add the leeks, ramps and green parts of knob onions. Saute over medium heat until fragrant and soft. 8-12 minutes. Remove from heat and add to the bowl with the other onions.

- Add Thyme, Summer Savory, Sage, Smoked Paprika, White pepper, salt, Green Onions, Sour Cream, Cream Cheese and Miso, and sugar if using to the bowl with the onions. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, then set aside.

- Lightly spray a 11 inch quiche or tart pan with non-stick spray. Melt a quarter cup of Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter and keep handy. Carefully layer sheets of the phyllo dough into your quiche pan, covering the bottom and sides. It’s okay if some over hangs. Lightly brush every sheet of phyllo with melted non-dairy butter before adding another sheet.

*** Note - Ultimately how many sheets you decide to use is up to you. You want enough to form a nice crust on the bottom, but not so much that there isn’t room for the filling. Also a sheet of phyllo dough isn’t going to fit your quiche pan perfectly, so it’s okay to cut the sheets into workable pieces that you can layer in 8-10 sheets (depending on the size of your sheets) should be more then sufficient. Also don’t worry about it looking perfect, a little looseness around the edges will give it a nice rustic look. ***

- Once you’ve layered your phyllo sheets into the bottom and over the sides of the pan, add in your filling. Spread the filling evenly inside the pan.

- Carefully layer more sheets of phyllo over top of the filling. Use roughly the same amount that you used to form your crust and make sure to brush each sheet with melted non-dairy butter before applying it.

- When you’ve finished layering your top crust, carefully break or cut away any excess dough hanging over the edges. A little hang is okay, but you don’t want excessive dough hanging over or it’ll just burn. Brush the top crust with a little melted non-dairy butter then sprinkle with black sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until your tart is a nice golden color.

- Let cool 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

PS: Don't let all the steps worry you, this is actually really simple and pretty easy to make. Phyllo is a pain in the ass to work with, but once you get over that, this tart's a snap! and it's SO worth it!

The Beauty of Ramps - and Terry Walters ‘Cannellini Beans with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Ramps’

Yesterday I ate ramps for the first time, and my tastebuds totally exploded! Now if you’re unfamiliar with ramps let me enlighten you, because they are a whole world of awesome.

Ramps belong to the onion family, and go by the alternate names of ramson, spring onion, wild leek, wood leek, and wild garlic. They’re native to North America where they grow from South Carolina all the way up to Quebec. They are particularly popular in the cuisines of the rural upland South and Quebec, and have been gaining in popularity amongst upscale restaurants throughout North America. Throughout Appalachia they are considered particularly special, and many festivals are often held each spring either in their honor or with ramps as a culinary focus.

Ramps are characterized by smooth, flat, broad green leaves and stems that are somewhere between red and purple. Their stock/bulb is very similar to that of a scallion. Taste wise their flavor falls somewhere between that of garlic and onions with their leaves having a milder flavor then their bulbs.

Now that you know what they are, let me tell you about how I happened to come across them.

Until I purchased the cook book “Clean Start” I didn't even know what a Ramp was, but once I knew it didn’t matter because I couldn’t find them for sale anywhere. As a lover of all things garlic and onion the one recipe that calls for ramps in “Clean Start” had caught my eye and piqued my interest, but as badly as I wanted to try it, I could not. Ramps you see have a very short season, and are usually available for only a short time between end of March and Early May. Not being able to find them, I forgot about them entirely, until ast weekend.

I was doing my grocery shopping, and I was in the mood for Garlic Scapes. Another delicious spring vegetable only available for a short time in spring. I asked my friend SC who works in the produce section of my local grocery if he had any scapes in or if it was still too early for them. He said that they’d just gotten scapes in the day before. Excited I followed behind him as he directed me to a produce shelf. However once we got there I saw immediately that they were not scapes but ramps. “Aren’t they the same thing?” he asked, and I informed them that they were not. I was all set to leave disheartened by not having found any scapes when I suddenly remembered that recipe from “Clean Start” and how rare it is to find ramps. Finding them right then, on that particular day seemed like a miracle and so I bought two bunches to bring home.

Yesterday was my first chance to try them out, and of course I decided to use Terry Walters recipe for Cannellini Beans with Sun-dried tomatoes and ramps. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of Cannellini beans, not canned at least but that’s all I had, and I figured why not at least try it? I am so, so glad I did. I made this dish for lunch and it was the most amazing, mind-blowing thing. The flavor of the ramps was incredible, kind of like a strong chive mixed with a bit of garlic, and it paired beautifully with the sun-dried tomatoes and the creaminess of the beans.

Honestly, I couldn’t stop Mm-Mmming the entire way through the meal and I don’t typically do that. I fell instantly in love with the dish and the ramps and have made the decision that buy oodles and oodles of ramps when I go grocery shopping today. I can not wait to find out what other delicious configurations I can come up with for these delicate wild onions.

Please do yourself a favor, next time you’re out look for ramps, and if you find them buy them! You won’t be sorry, really!