Springtime Ramp Pistachio Pesto

Tis’ the season! For ramps, that is…

Ramps are known for two qualities, being both delicious and fleeting. They are only to be found at the farmers market for a few short weeks in late spring! My sister alerted me that she found them at the farmers market a couple weekends ago, and had been making delicious things like ramp pizza and ramp pesto. And as a dedicated fan of both pizza and pesto, I knew that I had to find these sacred ramps.

So, that brings us to the past few weekends on the Upper West Side where I searched the farmers market unsuccessfully until last Sunday. Out of all of the produce stands, ramps were only to be found at one place! I was so excited that I immediately claimed two bunches, and ignored the puzzled woman next to me asking, “Well how do ya cook these?” 

Thinking that my sister was onto something with the ramp pesto, I decided to use my ramps to make a batch. Realizing though that I didn’t have any pine nuts on hand (and was too lazy to go out and buy some), I decided to substitute in pistachio nuts. I had seen pistachios used in pesto recipes before, and was always intrigued, so I figured, why not?

The pesto turned out great! The ramps and garlic have a real spiciness when they are used raw, but the pistachios turned out to be the perfect sweet counterbalance. I served the pesto with pasta, but it’s definitely versatile and can also be used as a spread on toast or sandwiches! 

Ingredients Makes approximately 4 servings

• 1 bunch of ramps
• 1 stalk of green garlic/spring garlic (if you don’t have these, substitute 1 medium sized clove of regular garlic)
• 2 large handfuls of shelled pistachio nuts (I think mine were salted)
• 2 tbs olive oil (approximate)
• 1 cube of frozen Dorot brand basil (I get mine from Trader Joes, you can substitute fresh basil if you have it!)
• 2 generous tbs shredded parmesan
• salt to taste

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

In case you couldn’t already tell, I have a pizza problem. It’s one of those savory foods that I could literally eat all-day everyday. But, unfortunately we all know, pizza isn’t the healthiest food and it packs a lot of weight in carbs. And while a crust made of cauliflower obviously can’t complete with the real thing, it’s definitely a delicious and creative solution to the carbohydrate problem. Who knew cauliflower was so versatile?

I followed this recipe for the crust and found some alterations necessary:

First, and most important, absolutely do not put the grated cauliflower in the microwave for 8 minutes! I that mistake and ended up with dried out, over-cooked and slightly burned cauliflower. On my second attempt at this dish, I microwaved the cauliflower for 2-3 minutes and it came out perfectly soft.

Second, if you have a food processor, by all means you should use it to grate the cauliflower instead of sentencing yourself to labor intensive grating by hand.

Third, although it says so in the recipe, it is crucial to bake the crust separately before you put on your toppings. Otherwise, you will end up with a soggier undercooked crust.

Last, you absolutely do not need to give your pizza a Hawaiian theme- is anyone else grossed out by the thought of meat, pineapple, cauliflower and cheese? I decided to replace the ham and pineapple with spinach and mushrooms, and baked the spinach underneath the cheese to prevent it from burning.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this as a successful  dish and delicious alternative pizza!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Ingredients

• Nasoya wonton wrappers
• 2 cups of roasted butternut squash
• 1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped finely
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. dried sage
• Grated parmesan
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Olive oil or butter to toss

Directions:

Step One, assembling the filling: Roast butternut squash at 400 until skin is brown and squash feels soft. Allow squash to chill. Saute onions until caramelized. Then, mix ricotta, squash, nutmeg, sage, onions, and salt and pepper together in a large bowl.

Step Two, folding Ravioli: For this step, you’ll need a bowl of water to seal the edges of the ravioli. Stuffing the ravioli turned out to be a lesson that less is more, generous amounts of filling wouldn’t allow me to cleanly seal the edges of the wonton wrappers. To fill the wrappers, place a dollop of filling in the center of the wonton. Next, dip your finger into the water and wet two edges of the wonton. Last, fold your ravioli into a triangle shape and press down the wet edges to seal. I placed the folded ravioli on a plate, with wax-paper in between the layers of ravioli.

Step Three, boil, sauce, garnish!: Once you have folded all your filling into the wonton wrappers, boil your ravioli for 2 minutes. The ravioli is delicate because of the thin wonton wrappers, so I would recommend tossing the ravioli in olive oil or brown butter, instead of a heavy tomato or cream sauce. To finish off, sprinkle with grated parmesan!

Vegetarian B.L.T.

What you need:

• 4 strips Morningstar ‘bacon’
• Red leaf lettuce
• 1/4 heirloom tomato, sliced
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/2  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 slices of your favorite bread
• 1 teaspoon frozen chopped basil
•  I used Dorot brand— you can also use fresh or dried basil

Instructions: Fry the bacon in a skillet so the slices are lightly browned on both sides. If you like your bread toasted (like I do) toast your bread while the bacon is frying. Meanwhile, slice your heirloom tomato so you have enough to cover one slice of bread. Next, wash a leaf or two of your lettuce, also enough to generously bed the tomato and bacon. I find that it is crucial to make an aioli for this sandwich to add more complexity to the flavors and to serve as an adhesive for the ingredients. To make the aioli, combine the mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, and basil. For the sandwich assembly, I generously spread the aioli on both slices of bread. I then topped one side, in this order, with lettuce, tomato, bacon, and the second slice of bread. 

Postscript: I have eaten this B.L.T. three days in a row- everyday since the first time I made it. It’s really that good!

Although my ‘savory tooth’ usually has a stronger pull than my sweet tooth, I still can’t resist a good cupcake-  in this case it was 15 cupcakes! This was my first attempt at baking, which I found to definitely be more demanding because all of the measurements are so exacting. It was a learning experience, and I would totally make these again because they taste as good as they look! The recipe below is my grandmothers and can also be used to make vanilla cake.

Batter Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A little less than 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups SIFTED flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a beater, combine the shortening, sugar, and egg- beat for approximately 4 minutes until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and add milk and vanilla alternately while stirring. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, but be careful not to over mix.  These puppies grow a lot in their little tins, so leave a bit of space in the tins for them to rise. This recipe yielded about 15 cupcakes for me, so you might need two muffin tins during the baking.

Frosting Ingredients and Instructions:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter/margerine
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of milk
• 2-3 drops of food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth! For extra pizzaz add sprinkles or mini chocolate chips.

Sometimes, I just really can’t ignore the urge to eat mass amounts of Morningstar fake meat products- this brunch sandwich is totally one of those times. Prime grillers, two strips of ‘bacon’, caramelized onions and scallions, a fried egg, and tomato slices were bedded on a sesame kaiser roll to create this monster.

Summer Zucchini Salad

What you’ll need…

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 handful grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1 stalk of chives
• 5 fresh basil leaves (approximately)
• 1/5 a lemon
• salt & pepper to taste

Saute zucchini with salt, pepper, and chopped chives. Squeeze in lemon while sauteeing. Add half of the basil, torn into small peices. When soft and lightly browned, remove zucchini from heat and top with quartered tomatoes and the remaining basil.  If you’re a big fan of lemon, don’t hesitate to squeeze a bit more onto the finished salad. Serves 2 as a side dish. A really great way to use fresh summer vegetables, I really enjoyed it!

Sushi!

Alex and I made several different kinds of sushi in Madison. We even made spicy mayo!

The selection included:

• potato & spicy mayo
• mushroom, tofu & scallion
• mushroom, asparagus & scallion
• cucumber avocado

Thin Crust Pizza!

Seems I can’t get enough of these carbs! I was more ambitious with this pizza and chose to make the dough and the sauce.  The pizza was great.  I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe for both the dough and the sauce and topped the pizza with spinach and mushrooms.  The dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, so I’ll be making it again this week!  

Recipe link.

Fresh Pasta (the best food on earth)

So, as you can see, I have a pasta maker which was a lovely gift from my sister given to me a couple of years ago.  This might be one of the best gifts ever because it produces the most heavenly of foods (I’m really not exaggerating).  These are the photos from the process. This involved first making the dough and then easing it through the machine several times on different settings to achieve optimal thinness.  Lastly, the dough is put through the part of the machine that cuts it into fettucini.  The whole process took about an hour and a half and is definitely a two person job.  The pasta was absolutely unreal and tasted NOTHING like dry pasta from a box!  The meal was made even more perfect because pesto was involved. Can’t wait to eat more of it this week!