Ramp Gnocchi
Here’s an awesome recipe for those ramp leaves. I’ve cooked ramps many ways, this is one of my favorites. It also happens to be a very easy gnocchi recipe that can be flavored in any way that you want. Typical gnocchi are made with potatoes and flour. These are French style gnocchi called Parisiennes, which are made from pate a choux, or eclair dough.
It can be tricky to introduce different flavors into regular potato gnocchi, since adding excess moisture can cause the dough to fall apart or produce tough dumplings. Not so with Parisienne gnocchi. Parisiennes are made from pate a choux, or eclair dough, so they are much more adaptable. With these gnocchi you also don’t to roll them out at all, you just put them in a pastry bag, or use two spoons to make balls like you would when you are making cookies, and then just simmer them in salted water until the float for 5 minutes or so, depending on size.
After the gnocchi are blanched, the things you could do with them are endless. They are typically fried in butter or baked like a gratin, but I like to poached them in broth too, just make sure if you are cooking them to put in soup that you don’t heat them too long in the liquid, since after a while they will fall apart.
Ramp Gnocchi Parisienne
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1.5 cups water
- 12 oz 1.5 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup blanched and minced ramp leaves
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
Instructions
- Heat the water in a small pan with the butter and salt.
- When the water boils, add the flour all at once, turn the heat down to low and stir rapidly for about 2 minutes, until the mixture in the pan forms a sticky dough. Transfer to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
- Mix in the grated parmesan and mustard, let cool for five minutes and them beat the eggs into the dough one at a time until the dough comes together, it will be sticky.
- Mix in the chopped ramp leaves.
- Put this mixture into a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. Boil a pot of lightly salted water, and start to squeeze the dough out of the pastry bag into the water, using a scissors to cut the dough that comes out into 1/2 inch dumplings. In a pinch you can use a zip loc bag.
- You will probably have to make two batches. once the gnocchi float, let them cook for 2 minutes longer and then remove to a cookie sheet that has some oil on it, so they don't stick. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Cover the cookie sheet with the dumplings once they are cooled, they will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
-
- Placing the gnocchi dough in a pastry bag makes for uniform dumlplings
-
- Blanching the gnocchi in salted water
I found your website while searching for ramp gnocchi and ramp pickle recipes just so you know how I happened to comment. I have made lots of ramp dishes as well as pickles that everyone loved and wanted a gnocchi recipe and other wild pickle ideas. I loved seeing all your recipes and especially liked your discussion of your experience with Lyme’s disease. I think it is important for foragers to be wary of the possibility of picking up deer ticks and getting Lyme’s diseasem so it’s great that you posted that for your followers to read. I hope you have fully recovered by now, others I’ve known who had it weren’t so lucky and have suffered since their “recoveries.” I look forward to more of your posts since I’m always looking for new ideas given the wealth of wild foods we have here in my home state of WV.
Hi Loretta, thanks for your thoughts, I have fully recovered from the lyme, I’m nervous about this years morel season as I’m going to be a chef/guide for a foray in Northern MN, but I think everything will be ok as long as I use permethrin and take precautions. Glad you liked the posts and the recipes. The ramp gnocchi is a great one, but the photo is terrible now that I look at it, It will have to be re-shot, nonetheless, it was a big hit with customers. I’ll be playing more with the pickled ramps until our season arrives, jealous of you down in WV! Cheers.
Ramp Gnocchi
Wow so good, my first time ever making gnocchi! I did not even use a sauce. Lightly browned them in olive oil, and served topped with parmesan cheese.
Note I had to boil very slowly, otherwise they came apart.