Ramp and Morel Mushroom Ravioli with Ramp Compound Butter

One of my favorite parts of this gig is sharing recipes with other outdoors people. Great friends David and Christina Waters don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk when it comes to hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. And they are raising their young family to do the same.

The spring forager’s golden combination, morel mushrooms and fresh ramps. All images by Christina Waters

This spring, Christina was out scouting for the rapidly approaching turkey season when she happened upon every chef’s wildest dreams. First, she found several early morel mushrooms. Everyone knows about morels, as they are some of the tastiest and easiest to identify mushrooms in the woods. Then she found a small area covered in green sprouts known as ramps. Ramps are a mild edible plant in the onion family. But they aren’t onions, nor are they leeks or garlic. Imagine a blend of all three without any bitterness and with more flavor. Chefs the world over revere ramps.

Ramps are prized by chefs and home cooks alike during their short growing period each spring.

Ramps grow in deciduous forests in the eastern United States and Canada, mostly in and around the Appalachian Mountains. You will often find them on east-facing slopes in moist areas. Look on the hills above creeks and streams. Ramp season is short, starting in early spring in the South and trending a bit later the farther north you go. That’s why you see ramps popping up on the menus of trendy eateries only this time of year. Ramps are a bright green plant, usually with two leaves that top out at about a foot long. The leaves trail down to a white bulb, often with a purple or red tinge just above the bulb. You will know when you find them. The smell is a sure tip off. Think mild onion with a bit of a sweet odor.

When you do find ramps, resist the urge to pick them all. Experts recommend only harvesting about 10 to 15 percent of any existing stand. And not harvesting closer than two week intervals. This ensures the ramps maintain enough density to reproduce, giving you a surefire spot to find them for years to come. Some foragers only pick a single leaf from each plant, leaving the remaining leaf and bulb behind. But the bulb is my favorite part, so I tend to take the entire plant, making sure I leave plenty of its counterparts behind. Use a knife blade, pointed stick, or a small shovel to loosen the soil around the bulb so that the stem doesn’t break when you try to pull it up.

Harvest only a small percentage of ramps from each patch and they will continue to reproduce for years.

What can you do with ramps? All sorts of things. They go great in eggs, soups, breads, on meats, you name it. One favorite is to make a compound butter with the ramps. That stuff is great on everything! Try it on your next batch of garlic bread. You won’t ever want to go back to plain butter again.

Try ramp butter on garlic bread.

Here are Christina’s recipes for ramp butter and for a ramp and morel mushroom ravioli. She makes her own pasta and you can too, or you can buy pre-made sheets if you don’t have the time, energy, and gear to make your own. She used the ramp butter as part of the filling for the ravioli and to sauté the morel mushrooms.

These ravioli use ramps in the filling and as the base for the morel mushroom sauce.

Ramp Compound Butter

Add ramps to boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds, then move to ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain and pat dry.

Add all ingredients to food processor and blend well.

Ramp and Morel Mushroom Ravioli

Ramp compound butter is easy to make, taking only a few simple ingredients.

For the pasta:

Add flour to a clean area and make a well. Add eggs, salt, and olive oil. Mix eggs incorporating flour until it forms a dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes, then rest at room temp for 30 minutes. Use a pasta machine to make sheets.

Mix all ingredients for filling in a bowl. Use 1 teaspoon of filling for each ravioli.

Fill each ravioli with about a teaspoon of the cheese filling.

Add the filled ravioli to boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes.

For the sauce, sauté halved or sliced morels in ramp butter. Add cooked ravioli to the pan and sauté together with the mushrooms and ramp butter.