• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FORAGER | CHEF
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Interviews
    • Partnerships
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Wild Herbs and Spices » Ramps or Wild Leeks

    Ramp Leaf Salsa Verde

    Published: Apr 25, 2020 Modified: Nov 10, 2022 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 17 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    Ramp leaf salsa verde recipe If you like ramps and wild onions, ramp leaf salsa verde is a new sauce for you to put on just about everything.

    I typically keep some sort of herby-mildy spicy sauce around the house for drizzling on things in a pinch, typically made from cilantro, oregano, or lovage, and, while they all follow the same method, each one tastes a little different, especially when I start using blends of garden herbs. If you have some cilantro from the store or garden, feel free to add a handful to this.

    This is a condiment by the ramp lover, for the ramp lover. But, if I know one thing, it's that some people have a bigger tolerance for the heat of raw garlic and all the other "stinking roses" out there, so I'm going to outline a couple different ways to make the salsa verde taking that into account.

    (See garlicky AF version in the recipe below if you enjoy sleeping alone). The basic process for is simple though: blanch a few herbs, add some capers, anchovy, a good pinch of chili flakes, lemon juice or red wine vinegar, and puree until it's velvety smooth.

    Wait. Anchovies you say? "Bbbbut salsa doesn't include anchovies!" There's two different salsa verdes. Latin American salsa verde is a sauce made from tomatillos, Italian-style salsa verde is herb based, and lighter. Both are delicious.

    If you're squeemish about anchovies, I urge you to give it a shot as it's really part of the magic here. If you like anchovies, make sure to bookmark my anchovy pan sauce recipe you can serve with steak or roasted mushrooms, too, see that recipe here.

    Ramp leaf salsa verde in a vita mix blender

    Velvet. The Vitamix makes short work of things like this--another reason to save up for one if you've ever wondered.

    There's a secret though, a real secret to salsa verdes that no one talks about. Go to a restaurant and see the word salsa verde on the menu and there's no telling what you'll get. On one hand, you could get a luscious, velvety sauce, the other possibility is that you get a thick, mulchy paste of herbal grass clippings. The secret is water.

    Adding water to something might make you think you're diluting it, but not so. Cultures around the world have thinned herb sauces with water for a very long time, especially in places near the sea, where, you guessed it, sea water is used (If you want to know more about those, look up Sicilian salmoriglio sauce, and chimmichurri). The water thins things out a bit, refreshing the texture and ensuring that you can spoon the sauce onto all the things. That being said, if you live somewhere with sea water, you could definitely boil some, cool it, and give it a shot--just omit the salt.

    Put it on a steak, soup, eggs, chicken, fish, potatoes, or put it on a shoe--it's good just about anywhere. Don't be scared if it tastes a bit hot from the ramp leaves at first, or if it's a bit much for your tastes. The sauce mellows after a bit in the fridge becoming more mild after a few days.

    Ramp leaf salsa verde recipe

    Ramp leaf salsa verde recipe
    Print Recipe
    4.77 from 13 votes

    Ramp Leaf Salsa Verde

    A tangy, garlicky sauce made from ramp leaves that's great with grilled meat and vegetables.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time5 mins
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: Condiments, Ramp Leaves, Salsa verde

    Equipment

    • Good blender

    Ingredients

    • 2.5 oz Fresh ramp leaves, washed and cleaned (this roughly 2 cups of loosely packed, chopped leaves)
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • 1 tablespoon anchovy paste or finely chopped anchovies (do not skip these)
    • 2 oz lemon juice + zest of one lemon (red wine vinegar is a good substitute
    • 1.5 tablespoons non-pareille capers
    • ⅛-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes depending on your heat tolerance
    • ¾ cup 6 oz blended olive oil
    • ¼ cup water

    Instructions

    • Bring a small pot (a quart or so) of salted water to a boil.
    • Blanch half of the ramp leaves in boiling water for a few seconds or until just wilted, you can also steam them. Squeeze the leaves dry and chop medium-fine with the remaining fresh ramp leaves. If you like a stronger ramp flavor, use all fresh leaves without par cooking any.
    • Combine the ramp leaves and remaining ingredients except the oil and water in the bowl of a blender, then puree, drizzling in the oil, until very smooth.
    • At the end, add the water, then puree for another 5 seconds or so to really get it nice and smooth. Transfer to a pint jar and store in the fridge. The sauce will lose it’s bright green color after a few days but will be good for weeks.

    Video

    Notes

    Variations

    • Garlicky Ramp Salsa Verde
      Puree the ramp leaves, chopped, raw in the sauce, and prepare to sleep alone.
    • 50/50 Ramp Leaf-Herb Sauce
      Instead of all ramps, use half of another herb, added raw to the blender--cilantro is my favorite.

    More 

    Ramps: Harvesting, Sustainability, Cooking and Recipes 

    « Garlic Mustard
    Mediterranean Dock Soup with Rice and Lemon »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Judy Krohn

      April 25, 2020 at 11:08 am

      This is exactly the recipe I was hoping you'd share! I'm going "ramping" today, and I also have (purchased by mistake--thinking it was cilantro) extra flat leaf parsley to use up. We're getting a shipment of Bubbling Springs Farm beef later today, so this will be a great condiment to have on hand! Thanks.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 25, 2020 at 11:15 am

        Good deal. Let me know if you have any questions troubleshooting Judy.

        Reply
        • Keith

          April 26, 2020 at 9:04 pm

          5 stars
          Loved it. I first ran through a food processor. I then blended half of that mix in the Vitamix. Reminded me a smoother Chimichurri. Do you think cooked nettles would be a good addition to this sauce? I selectively pick ramps from the same patch every year- only picking the tops. The next year, the one's I picked the year before are smaller and therefore do not get picked. By year 2, they are fully grown and ready to be picked again.

          Reply
          • Alan Bergo

            April 27, 2020 at 3:45 pm

            Hey Keith, good deal. As far as nettles, no, I wouldn't use them here since they don't have an herbaceous flavor. Our local monarda fistulosa is coming up though, and that, along with cilantro, would be good additions. But, I've been pouring the sauce on steamed nettles and it's great.

            Reply
    2. Sean

      April 26, 2020 at 9:04 pm

      This sounds incredible. Excited to try it with the ramps I gathered this weekend. Does this sauce freeze well, if I want to store some for later?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 27, 2020 at 3:42 pm

        Hi Sean. Yes, the sauce will freeze well, and I would recommend doing that. Over time, it will lose the bright green color in the fridge, but frozen sauce would be just like new. The only issue that you'll have is that if you use extra virgin olive oil, it will firm up in the freezer, and after thawing you may need to bring it to room temperature to get it to be pour-able again. (I shake it in a jar at home) After you have it around for a while you'll get to know how it behaves. You can definitely scale this up and make bigger batches, and although lemon juice is the best for it, cider or even red wine vinegar could be substituted too. LMK if you need any help trouble shooting. A

        Reply
    3. Bonny R.

      April 30, 2020 at 3:51 pm

      5 stars
      Just made this for the first time and it’s absolutely delicious! A wonderful change from my usual pesto. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 01, 2020 at 8:52 am

        That was just my intention. Glad you liked it! A

        Reply
    4. Lisa

      May 02, 2020 at 8:29 am

      Just made the Garlic AF version with lime juice. Delicious!!!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 02, 2020 at 8:38 am

        Lol. Glad you liked it. Also known as the “sleep alone version”. Even so after a few days it will calm down from the acid.

        Reply
    5. Betsy Smith

      May 02, 2020 at 12:02 pm

      I just made a batch, the color is amazing and the taste is over the top. Can wait to use it with some lamb.

      Reply
    6. McRae Anderson

      May 02, 2020 at 4:31 pm

      Just made mine today added a few pickles garlic scapes to supplement the capers, tastes great.

      Reply
    7. Jacqui

      March 28, 2021 at 8:20 am

      5 stars
      Hi Alan (or anybody else),
      You mention freezing as a way to preserve this longer-term. Do you think it could be canned? Is there enough acidity for a water-bath canning or would it need to be pressure canned or would you just suggest not to can at all?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        March 28, 2021 at 11:40 am

        Hey Jacqui.
        You can definitely water bath can this if you make a couple adjustments. Instead of using the leaves fresh, toss them with 2-3% of their weight in salt and eight mush them up in a jar or vacuum seal. Ferment them to maximum low pH (2 weeks). They will be weapons-grade stinky and delicious. From there, follow the recipe the same way, using the fermented greens instead of the fresh ones. I would use red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice for stability too. It won't have a bright green color, but you lose that with the fresh version after a couple days anyway. It won't be exactly the same, but I've made a number of different sauces from lacto-ramp leaves like this and they can be really good.

        Reply
    8. Mirja

      April 29, 2021 at 7:10 pm

      5 stars
      Learned this one thanks to Kenji Lopez-Alt's hummus recipr. Blend the lemon juice with the ramps and let it sit for 5 minutes. The ph gets rid of the majority of the allicin. I made this last night and did exactly that, no blanching at all. The taste was mildly garlicy. Good way to get more ramps in the sauce if you're inclined!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 29, 2021 at 7:14 pm

        That can be a good workaround. The Food Lab is a great book, I use it regularly.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

    More about me →

    Get The Book

    the forager chef's book of flora
    The Forager Chefs Book of Flora

    As Seen On

    Footer

    BACK TO TOP

    Privacy

    Subscribe

    Be the first to hear what I'm doing

    Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Forager | Chef®