Ramp Leaf Pesto

4.54 from 13 votes

Makes about 4 cups-scale as needed

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Ramp Pesto, Ramps

Servings: Servings

Calories: 273kcal

8 oz fresh ramp leaves washed and cleaned
1 heaping tablespoon sunflower seeds or pine nuts
½ cup Smude's sunflower oil or another good tasting oil or extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons parmigiano reggiano or another high quality parmesan you like
A dash of lemon juice optional

Heat the oven to 350 or so, toast the sunflower seeds until they are aromatic and lightly golden, a few minutes. Cool and reserve.
Roughly chop the ramp leaves.
For a milder flavor, blanch half of the ramp greens in boiling water for a few seconds, then chill in a bowl of cold water and squeeze dry.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chopped ramp leaves, toasted sunflower seeds, cheese, and oil. Begin the pureeing process by pulsing to break things up, then keep going until you get a smooth-ish paste.
After pureeing, if the pesto isn't creamy, fluffy and light, drizzle in some more oil and continue to puree until velvety smooth, this recipe is made for restaurant and highspeed blenders, if you don't have one, you may need to add small amounts of oil/liquid to get it smooth. Double check the seasoning and adjust as needed, then refrigerate or freeze.

If you want the pesto coarse, don't puree it completely--it's up to you. I often make it smooth since I'll be adding other garnishes to dishes when the pesto is used.
A great way to preserve this is to fill ice cube trays with ramp pesto, freeze them, then pop out the cubes and freeze those for easy portioning, I like to use re-useable vacuum bags. Vacuum sealing the cubes will give the longest shelf life.
The lemon is optional, but the citric acid helps preserve the color.